Whatever It Is
by Emmee G
Summary: Eric has never really been the committing type but that all changes when Sookie walks into his life. Fluffy, sweet and a little bit of funny. AH.
1. Feel That Fire

Chapter 1: Feel That Fire

"_Love at first sight is possible, but it's always a good idea to take a second look." –Unknown _

**EPOV**

We met innocently enough at the wedding of mutual friends. Alcide and I had been in the same fraternity back in college. We'd roomed together for two years before I graduated a year ahead of him. He was a good guy and probably one of the more morally tuned-in guys in the house. Unlike the rest of us, he studied a little harder and spent a little less time chasing tail. That's not to say he didn't have a wild streak.

If it weren't for that, no way would he ever have hooked up with Debbie Pelt. The woman was a fucking disaster and everyone hated her but him. Back then, good 'ole Alcide was in the saving business. He refused to believe it when his friends (myself included) told him that Debbie was crazy and all kinds of wrong for him. But then the dude was in love and trying to talk a guy out of being with a girl he loves is about as big of a waste of time as trying to convert the Pope to Judaism. Alcide just wouldn't hear it, no matter what.

Thank fuck he finally realized Debbie was cancerous and dumped her for good. It took breaking up with her a couple of other times and her cheating on him twice before he realized just how toxic she was, but like I said, he was in love with her. I get wanting to believe in the best in a person but Jesus Christ, she was so not worth all the trouble he went through for her.

Three years later he met a much nicer (read _saner_) girl by the name of Maria Starr who was absolutely perfect for him. While it was true they had sort of rushed into the whole marriage thing, I figured it wasn't really my place to judge. I hadn't been in a serious relationship since high school so I had no room to talk about other people's choices. I'd had girlfriends but the relationships pretty much played themselves out in short order.

Alcide asked me to be one of the groomsmen in his wedding and I could hardly say no. Even if I wasn't ready for marriage just yet, I was happy for the guy. He deserved to be happy as well. Not to mention, I liked Maria Starr. I thought she was good for him. Then again, Debbie Pelt was awful enough that I would have thought Paris Hilton would be a step up. That's bad news.

The wedding was set to take place where they met, which was at Maria's parents' house about a hundred miles east of Shreveport, where I'd been living since finishing college down at LSU. Alcide had gotten a degree in business with the intention of someday taking over his father's construction/contracting company. He was good at what he did and it was while doing some restoration work to the antebellum home the Coopers owned that Alcide met Maria. To hear him tell it, it was love at first sight. Good for him.

I'd always wondered if that whole love at first sight thing was real. Of course attraction was possible. I passed a 100 girls a day I thought were pretty, beautiful or hot but that didn't mean I was in love with him. I figured it was probably a once in a lifetime sort of deal. I didn't ever talk about this with Alcide or any of my other guy friends. Guys don't talk about shit like that unless they're extremely wasted or in the process of breaking up with someone and even then, it's best to pretend the conversation never happened.

It was while I was at this wedding that I met a girl who gave me pause on the whole love at first sight concept. The second I laid eyes on her my heart leapt up into my throat and I felt this pull toward her. I'd never experienced anything like it. She looked like the girl next door with her long blonde hair, bright blue doe eyes and curves that would have made Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield jealous. In short, she was a knockout.

When I asked Alcide about her I was shocked to learn she was also single. She was a friend of Maria's and sister of one of the other groomsmen. I knew Jason Stackhouse from school. He'd only gone for a year and a half on a football scholarship before his knee blew out. Since Jason wasn't exactly the scholarly type, his scholarship dried up pretty quickly after it was determined his playing days were over. He'd come down to LSU once in a while to check out the talent when he got bored with the girls from his hometown but otherwise I hadn't seen him since I graduated almost five years before.

Generally speaking, there are rules about going after your buddy's little sister; not that we would ever really talk about those rules. It's like talking about your buddy's mother. No matter how hot she is, you keep that shit to yourself and you sure as hell don't try to fuck her. It was the same thing for sisters.

So I stood at the bar trying not to stare at the bombshell that was standing on the other side of the dance floor, laughing at something her brother was saying and gesturing wildly as he talked. I also found myself wondering just how close Jason and I really were. The downside was that he knew my reputation with the ladies. He knew I wasn't generally the committing type, at least not for very long, and I was pretty sure he'd take issue with a guy like me going after his sister.

I could only hope that the girl, whoever she was, would have the sass to tell her brother to sit down and let her make her own decisions. The problem was that I couldn't seem to get my feet to move. Confidence was never a problem for me in the past. I had it in me to be a suave motherfucker when I wanted to and yet, just looking at this girl froze me in place.

I _never_ got flustered around girls. Even when I was too tall for my own good back when I was thirteen and hadn't quite mastered how to work my lanky limbs, I wasn't afraid to talk to girls. It was a skill that had come naturally to me. So why was this one any different? I didn't have anything to lose by going over and introducing myself. If she didn't seem interested I could easily play it off like I was just mingling with other wedding guests; no big deal.

Still, there was no movement south of my kneecaps. No amount of pep talking seemed to get the fuckers to move either and it was starting to piss me off. But then there was one of those best worst moment situations and some big, beefy Mr. Clean looking bastard whispered in her ear. She nodded and then followed him out to the dance floor. Oh hell no. No, this wasn't happening. They looked all kinds of wrong together. I was willing to bet he was the kind of tough talking douche with his nipples pierced and demon biker chick tattoos on his steroid enhanced arms.

On the bright side of that particularly nauseating dark cloud, it got my feet to finally fucking move. I made my way around the outskirts of the room and slithered through the crowd until I got to where Jason was standing. He was still swapping stories with a few guys from the frat house that had been around back in his day and the second he saw me, he stopped the story he was telling.

"Eric Northman, you sneaky bastard, get over here!" Jason held his arms out for a hug.

Now, considering his size it would be easy to think Jason wasn't much of a threat. He was probably about 5'10" and weighed less than two bucks. I wouldn't call him scrawny, but he just wasn't very intimidating the size department. However, I'd seen that asshole do pushups from a handstand position so I knew he was a strong little bastard. He reminded me just how strong when I let him crush me into a bro hug, complete with unnecessarily hard back slapping. Fuck, that was probably going to leave a mark.

"Jason Stackhouse, how the fuck are you?" I greeted him in my customary way and he grinned from ear to ear.

"I am fan-fucking-tastic," he reached into his pocket and produced a wallet full of pictures. "This here's my baby girl, Evangeline, but we call her Evie."

I looked down at the toothless grin of a baby girl with blonde hair and the same brown eyes as her father. She was a cute kid. "She's beautiful, Jase, congratulations."

"Thanks man! Best thing ever happened to me, I'll ya. Never thought I'd be excited about being a father but I love that little girl more than words can say." Jason actually kissed one of the pictures before folding them all back up and stuffing his wallet into his pocket again. "How about you? Got kids yet?"

I shook my head and said, "Nah, not yet. I'd need to be with a girl I could stand for more than five seconds before that happened."

Jason laughed and said, "I hear ya. Love hits ya at the weirdest moments though. Wasn't expecting to fall for Crystal but it happened. Evie wasn't exactly planned, if you know what I mean, but I don't regret it for a second. That little girl owns my heart."

I didn't really know what to say other than, "That's great, Jason. Happy to hear it."

He nodded and said, "Hey! You should meet my sister!" He punched my arm with excitement.

_I'll take things I didn't see coming for $1000, Alex._

"Your sister?" I had to play dumb, even though Alcide was chuckling into his beer about three feet away. Fucker was lucky I didn't give him the same shoulder punch I got from Jason.

"Yeah, she's dancing with that fucknut Quinn," Jason shook his head with disapproval. Thank fuck I wasn't the only one who felt like his sister could do better. "Yo, Sook!" Jason shouted, waving her over like he was at a country fair instead of a wedding reception. _Only Jason_, I thought and shook my head.

And Sook? What the fuck kind of name was Sook? I kept quiet all the same and watched as his sister glared in his direction and mouthed, _fuck off_, in his direction. Sassy. I liked it.

She waited until the song ended before excusing herself from the guy I assumed had to be Quinn and he trailed after her like a lost puppy. Not that I could blame him or anything, but I didn't really need another member in the peanut gallery while I talked to this Sook woman.

"You realize this is a wedding and not a hog call, right?" Sook pinched Jason's arm like any good sister would.

"Yeah, yeah do you see Alcide bitchin'? Calm down. I wanted you to meet somebody." Jason gestured in my direction. "This is Eric, an old friend of mine from my frat days down at LSU. Eric, this is my baby sister, Sookie."

"Nice to meet you," we said simultaneously, hands reaching out to shake.

Sookie laughed at our simultaneous politeness and I was instantly charmed by the sound of it. I hadn't been able to hear it before but I immediately knew I wanted to hear the sound again. Her hand was small and warm in mine. Her skin was soft and I was relieved to see she wasn't wearing those stupid acrylic nails that seemed to be all the rage lately. She was dressed in a pretty off-white dress with deep pink roses on it that made her tan skin seem a little darker than it probably was. Her bright blue eyes twinkled when she laughed.

I was in dangerous territory. I was damn close to waxing poetic about her smile and that shit was just unacceptable unless I had naked privileges with her. All the same, I didn't want to let go of her hand. For some reason I couldn't explain, it felt like her hand belonged in mine. Weird.

"Can I get you a drink?" I offered, remembering the manners my mother had tried so hard to instill in me but rarely ever seemed to get used.

"Sure, that'd be nice." Sookie smiled at me.

"I got it, babe," Quinn spoke up from behind her and hightailed it over the bar before I could nail him in the head with the bottle I was holding. Fucker. Would it be immature if I slashed all his tires later? Probably.

The only thing that made Quinn walking away okay was that Sookie cringed when he called her 'babe;' not that I could blame her. I wasn't really one for pet names. My last girlfriend called me 'honey' more often than she did my first name and it had annoyed me to no end. It was particularly annoying when we were out in public and there were twenty other women calling their boyfriends the same exact thing. I have a name. Use it.

One by one the guys I'd been standing with found other places to be until Sookie and I were left standing alone together. She gestured to the table she'd been assigned to and asked, "Wanna sit down?"

I nodded and took the seat next to hers. "So is that guy your boyfriend?"

Sookie looked positively horrified and said, "Hell no! Quinn is…hell I don't even know where to start." There was more of that infectious laughter of hers and it had me smiling along with her. "Besides, won't your girlfriend have a problem with you sitting with another woman?"

"She probably would if I had a girlfriend," I smiled over the top of my beer bottle and damn near grinned when she blushed just a little. Priceless.

She tossed her long hair over her shoulder in a maneuver I was convinced girls got lessons in while us guys were learning how to use a jock strap or a cup. Her earrings caught my attention, if only because I'd never seen green pearls before and my mother collected pearls the way I used to collect comic books when I was a kid.

"Here you go, babe," Quinn set a drink down in front of Sookie, who forced a smile.

"Thank you, Quinn." She reached to stir her drink.

"I gotta piss," he said crudely and then took off.

I shook my head while Sookie sat there looking completely mortified. "I swear he was born in a barn," she muttered under her breath and I couldn't help but laugh.

"So what are you doing with him then?" I asked out of sheer curiosity.

"I'm not with him. I've known him for years since he used to play football with my brother back in high school, but Quinn has _never_ been my type, nor has he ever had a chance with me. He's really not such a bad guy, contrary to what his behavior here would suggest. He's just protective of me." Sookie explained to me.

"Like the big brother you never wanted?" I offered and she nodded before sipping her drink.

"Something like that, yes." She made a face at her drink. "This is club soda with a lime."

"What was it supposed to be?" I asked her and drained what was left of my beer.

"A gin and tonic," she croaked out. "I guess that just goes to show that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

"Well, I could use a refill. Care for an escort?" I held a hand out to her and she nodded, leaving her less than satisfactory drink on the table.

Once again I was overcome with how right it felt to be holding her hand, if only for a few moments. We walked together to the bar and it wasn't too surprising when the bartender practically tripped all over himself to serve her. A gorgeous girl in a tight, strapless dress and amazing curves? Yeah, not too many guys are going to be able to keep their tongue in their head, let alone their dick in their pants. I forced myself to stop looking at her ass after five seconds.

"See something you like?" Sookie asked. Apparently I hadn't stopped looking fast enough.

"If I said yes would you think I was a pervert?" I smiled at her.

"Only if you're referring to my dress and not what's under it," she said, catching me completely off guard.

I think I fell in love with her a little right there.

* * *

><p><strong>So what do we all think? I'm aiming for fluff here but we'll see what happens. Reviews are love!<strong>


	2. Just A Kiss

Chapter 2: Just a Kiss

"_If you kiss on the first date and it's not right, then there will be no second date. Sometimes it's better to hold out and not kiss for a long time. I am a strong believer in kissing being very intimate, and the minute you kiss, the floodgates open for everything else." –Unknown _

**SPOV**

I sincerely doubt I'm alone when I say that first dates generally suck. I had yet to go on a first date that wasn't incredibly awkward at some point. Whether it was ending up at a restaurant I didn't like or my date staring at my breasts like they were going to be dessert, something always went wonky. So even though I had high hopes for my first date with Eric, I was also airing on the side of caution just in case all that charm disappeared.

I had absolutely no idea where we were going but Eric had told me to dress casually. I chose a pair of dark washed jeans, a black camisole trimmed with lace and some sparkly black sandals. Since I didn't know how much time we'd be spending outside I grabbed a cropped jean jacket that matched my pants and a blue diamond encrusted ring that had belonged to my Gran. It was actually her engagement ring. I wore it for good luck.

For once, I was more inclined to find myself nervous that things were going to go perfectly than they were going to go terribly wrong. I smiled down at Gran's ring and tried to imagine what she would say if I told her about Eric. Meeting him at Alcide's wedding, of all places, had been a surprise. Even more surprising was finding out he wasn't attached to someone. But then guys who looked like him tended to go one of two ways, from my experience. Either they were put on lockdown early by their first high school girlfriend, or they ended up fucking anything with a pulse until an unplanned pregnancy stuck them with a baby mama.

When I told Jason that Eric had asked me out on a date before leaving the reception, he seemed fine with it. Of course by then, Jason pretty much had drunk his body weight in Coronas, so it's entirely possible he didn't really get what I was saying. When he called to make plans for the night of my date with Eric, I reminded him I was already busy. His reaction to my date wasn't what it was the first time around and he warned me that Eric wasn't usually the sort to settle down so I wouldn't get my hopes up too high.

I tended to take my brother's advice with a grain of salt. Jason was really one to talk about being in a steady relationship given that until he met and knocked up his fiancé, he had never kept a girl around for much longer than breakfast. If the sex was really good, a girl _might_ get lunch out of the deal. The fact that he'd been able to maintain a somewhat solid relationship with Crystal for the last year was surprising. I love my brother, but I know from personal experience he ain't the easiest man to live with. God bless Crystal for taking him on as well as that baby.

I put in a pair of simple silver ball earrings and then headed to the bathroom to flat iron my hair. I figured I'd pull it back into a sleek ponytail so I wouldn't be tempted to play with it all night long the way I usually did when I got nervous. Besides, I had the cutest little hair tie had been dying to try out since I bought it and what better time than a first date.

When I was done with my hair I gave it a little spritz with a shine enhancer and a little hairspray to keep my flyaways at bay. After brushing my teeth I slicked on a coat of lip stain and headed back to my bedroom to make sure I didn't have anything embarrassing lying around in case Eric ended up getting a tour at the end of the night. I pulled the quilt on my bed where it had wrinkled just a little and straightened one of my pillows.

Satisfied with how my bedroom looked, I grabbed my jacket and purse and headed to the front of the house. Eric had said he would be picking me up at seven and if he was right on time, I had about ten minutes to spare. I did a quick walk through of the house tidying and straightening to make sure the house was in perfect order. Gran would have been appalled if I let a visitor into an unkempt space and I wasn't about to start disappointing her now.

Okay, so maybe I was a little obsessive based on the fact that I was straightening magnets on the fridge when I heard a car come up the driveway. I took a deep breath and told myself to calm the hell down before I completely freaked out. I don't know if it did a whole lot of good, but it was worth a shot. I forced myself to stay in the kitchen instead of running to the front door like I wanted to.

When the doorbell sounded I took another deep breath and as casually as I could, I made my way to the front door. I could see Eric through the delicate lace curtains hanging over the window and smiled at him since I wasn't sure if he could see me coming or not. When I opened the door, I ended up sucking in another deep breath. If I thought he looked good in a suit, he looked even better in his dark washed jeans and white button down shirt with the top three buttons left undone.

I gulped probably loud enough for him to hear it but my concern flew out the window the second he smiled at me. But then when his eyes started to travel me and take in what I was wearing, I got a little self-conscious again. His eyes glazed over just a little and I took that to be a good thing. When his eyes met mine, his smile grew.

"You look beautiful," he told me and then presented me with a small bouquet of mixed spring flowers. They were beautiful and smelled heavenly.

"Thank you," I smiled back and stepped out of the way. "Would you like to come in while I put these in water?"

Eric nodded and stepped inside the house, looking around a little as he did. I excused myself and hauled ass to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase. I would have to doctor them up properly when I got home. I didn't want to keep him waiting. I brought the vase with me from the kitchen and set it down on the coffee table in the living room.

I grabbed my bag and my jacket from the couch before turning to Eric to ask, "Am I going to need a jacket?"

"It can't hurt. I'm not sure if we'll end up outside or not," he admitted with a hint of a smile.

"Okay," I briefly reconsidered my choice of footwear but decided if things got murky, I could always jump on his back. That'd be his punishment for not warning me when he had the chance.

After locking up the house Eric led me to his car, a sporty red Corvette that was so low to the ground I was thankful I hadn't worn a dress or I would have ended up flashing my hoo-hah to anyone looking my way. Eric held my door open for me and then closed it once I was safely inside the car. I would have leaned over to unlock his door but it was already unlocked. He lowered himself expertly into his seat behind the wheel with a grace I wouldn't have guessed he possessed.

"So are you going to tell me where we're going?" I asked him as he put the key in the ignition.

"There's a bar not too far from my apartment that opened last month that I've heard good things about. I thought we could check it out," Eric suggested. "Are you any good at playing pool?"

I bit back a smile and said, "I do alright."

No way was I going to tell him that I was a freakin' wizard when it came to shooting pool. For whatever reason, the Lord saw fit to bless me with the ability to perfectly line up a shot. I figured that was recompense for giving me a singing voice that made dogs in Boston bark.

"By that do you mean you'll grin and bear it, or does that mean you're going to play me for money and let me think you suck and then take me for all I'm worth?" Eric asked as he started the car. Music flooded the space and he scrambled to turn it down. "Sorry. I meant to turn that down before I came inside."

"It's fine," I smiled over at him. "What are we listening to?"

"The Black Keys. Never heard it before?" He asked and I shook my head. "Well then you're in for a treat."

The car started to move as Eric backed away from the house to turn around. Without even realizing I was doing it, I drummed my fingers against my knee in time with the rocky, bluesy music we were listening to. I noticed Eric bobbing his head slightly as he drove up my driveway. We were quiet for a spell, just listening to the music. Normally I would feel like the music was there to fill an awkward silence but with Eric it felt more like he was showing me a part of himself.

The moon was full outside my window and I kept my eyes on it as Eric sped down the highway. I didn't even want to look over to see how fast we were going but I was pretty sure it was well above the posted speed limit. Then again, why drive a sports car if you're going to drive like a granny on Sunday? My hand reached up to play with the end of my ponytail but I dropped my hand when I realized what I was doing. I was not going to play with my hair like a nervous sixteen-year-old on her first date. At twenty-four, that was completely unacceptable.

We got into Shreveport about forty minutes later, most of which were spent in comfortable silence. Eric pulled into a vacant space on the street and I'll admit I was a little jealous of how easily he parallel parked the car. It was a skill I never was able to master no matter how hard I tried. When Eric came around to let me out of the car he reached out for my hand. I gave it to him and he helped me up. Only when I was on my feet and the door was closed, my hand was still in his and I was content to leave it there for as long as he'd let me.

It was a little early for Friday night so Layla's wasn't too crowded. The place was close to looking like a cross between Coyote Ugly and that bar/coffee house in Reality Bites. For being a new place it looked like it had been open for decades, and well used at that. My hand remained in Eric's and he squeezed it a little tighter to his as we walked over to the bar to get a drink.

I was pleasantly surprised when he remembered I drank gin and tonics, but I went with wine instead. I knew I would sip wine more slowly than I would a gin and tonic and I didn't want to get hammered on our date. I wanted to be able to ask intelligent questions and remember his answers. Moreover, I didn't want to let the alcohol drown out my inhibitions and end up falling into bed with him because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

"So, Eric, where are you from originally?" I asked him once we were seated at a table outside on the little patio area they had set up. Rock music I didn't recognize was playing through speakers I couldn't see but seemed to be everywhere.

"What makes you think I'm not from right here in Louisiana?" He asked with a smirk while I swirled my wine.

"Well, you don't talk like a redneck, for starters, and it's rare to find a guy from around these parts who doesn't and has lived here his whole life." I explained to him.

His smirk grew into a smile and he said, "I was actually born in North Carolina. My parents are both college professors and when I was still a baby my father was offered a position at the Göteborgs University in Gothenburg, Sweden. So from the time I was about eight months old until just before I started high school, I lived in Sweden."

"So then you speak Swedish as well as English?" I asked with an excited smile on my face.

"I do, and you look…_really_ excited over this," Eric chuckled a little.

"I'm sorry; it's just that pretty much anyone I've ever met speaks French or Redneck, so Swedish is a nice change of pace." I explained to him.

"Do you speak redneck, Sookie?" he smirked.

"Of course I do!" I nodded and sipped my wine.

"Okay," Eric straightened up a little in his chair and said, "Say something redneck to me."

"Something redneck…" I quirked an eyebrow in thought and then motioned for him to come closer. He leaned over and I leaned in to meet him. I was damn close to his ear I could feel the heat coming off of his body. In the sultriest voice I could muster I whispered, "Nascar."

Eric barked out a laugh and nearly doubled over because of it. He looked at me with intense amusement on his face. "That was pretty good."

I giggled and said, "Why thank you. I've been training my whole life for that. So do I get to hear you say something in Swedish?"

"What would you like to hear?" Eric cleared his throat.

"Not Nascar," I said with a laugh and shook my head. "Surprise me. Say whatever comes to mind."

"That's a dangerous invitation on a first date," he took a drink of his Heineken and thought for a moment about what to say. He cleared his throat again, looked me right in the eyes and said, "Du har ett vackert leende."

The foreign language did strange things to me and sent tingles running all through my body. I couldn't help smiling at him and asking, "What does that mean?"

"You have a beautiful smile," he said without hesitation and I know my damn traitor cheeks started to burn.

"Thank you," I took another drink of my wine. I needed to slow down.

"So I'm guessing you're a native to Louisiana?" Eric got himself situated in his chair.

"Yessir. I was actually born in the house you picked me up from. There was a nasty thunderstorm the night I was born and bolt of lightening took out one of the trees so the driveway was all blocked up. Luckily, our nearest neighbor was a doctor so he came over and delivered me. I've lived in that house my whole life, minus the four years I was away at school and even then I was just down at Tulane."

"You've never left the state of Louisiana?" Eric looked shocked.

"Of course I have; I've just never lived anywhere else."

"I see. So what's your favorite place you've traveled to?"

Ah the beginning of the interview portion of the date. The part where you hear bits and pieces of the other person's life and try to make an assessment of that person to see if they're as interesting as your attraction to them makes you hope they are. There is nothing worse than meeting someone you're attracted to and then finding out they have absolutely nothing else going on for them. For me it usually ends up that they don't have both halves of their brain working in tandem, or they have no sense of humor. I'm a girl who likes to laugh but I'm somewhat selective about it, in spite of my nervous giggles from time to time.

We talked about all sorts of things, from our favorite music and movies to some of the more embarrassing things we endured as awkward teenagers. The funny thing was I didn't really mind sharing stuff like that with him. It struck me as strange how I felt like I was talking to an old friend. There was just an immediate intimacy between us that I couldn't explain.

"See this?" I asked, leaning forward to show him a small scar just below my neck on my chest and Eric nodded. That was a bit of a test to see if he'd check out my boobs while he was looking and he passed with flying colors when he didn't. "I got that while I was down at Lake Charles with Jason and some of our friends a few years ago. I got stinking drunk on rum and coke and a couple of the guys went outside to smoke and I followed them out there. We were staying on a houseboat that belonged to Sophie-Anne's parents. So I'm outside, stumbling around on the deck of this boat completely wasted and when I look over the side of the boat I think I see a group of fish playing in the water. Well, stupid, drunk me decides it'd be a great idea to lean over a little further. The next thing I know, my balance is completely gone and I start to fall forward. Thank God Alcide grabbed me by the hood of my sweatshirt and yanked me backward to keep me from falling in. The next morning I woke up and had this awful zipper patterned line on my neck and no idea what the hell I did to get it. The moral of the story? No rum and coke for Sookie."

Eric laughed at my story and lightly touched the small scar on my chest from that damn zipper. "I like scars," he admitted and smiled into my eyes. "Usually there's a pretty good story behind how a person got it."

"So what about you? Do you have any scars?" I leaned forward and propped my chin on my fist.

"Many. My mother threatened to wrap me in bubble wrap when I was nine. That year I broke my left arm, my right foot and three fingers. All at different times, mind you."

"Jesus what were you up to as a kid?"

"Boy stuff," Eric shrugged. "Around that time extreme sports had just started to become something more mainstream so I wanted to ride dirt bikes, skateboard, inline skate and whatever else was fun. I broke my arm going skiing with my father, actually, and I still don't think Mom has fully forgiven Dad for it. I broke my foot skateboarding after I was expressly forbidden from doing it without a parent present. And my fingers got broken while I was playing soccer. I got knocked over on the field and some tank of a kid stepped on my hand."

"Ouch," I cringed for him and he showed me his left hand. His middle finger seemed to have retained the most damage. "That looks like it must have been painful."

"It wasn't fun," he said with a quiet laugh. "I think the worst thing though was when I took a dive headfirst off my bike and skinned up half of my face."

I gasped and covered my mouth. "Oh my gosh! That had to be horrible."

"It was pretty gross. To make matters worse it happened three days before picture day when I was twelve." He told me with a goofy smile.

"Oh no!" I laughed behind my hand.

"The pictures were…well, they were colorful. I think that was the only time I ever had my pictures retaken but I have one of the originals around somewhere. Mom wanted to throw them away but I stole one out of the trash."

"Why did you want to keep a copy of it?"

"I thought it was cool at the time. I mean, I looked like hell but I considered it a badge of honor of some sort, you know what I mean? I seriously looked like Two Face from the Batman comics which really only made the whole thing cooler in my opinion."

"You were into comic books?" I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing.

"Hell yes. I went through a total nerd phase for a while. I got really tall really fast and my coordination went seriously out the window until I was about seventeen. I figured I had enough scars and stories about broken bones, not to mention my father pretty much begged me to stop scaring my mother with freaky new injuries," Eric admitted and I couldn't help laughing again. "So I had to find less active ways to occupy my time. It was actually my father who got me into reading them in the first place. He had a lot of first editions he'd collected and it ended up becoming a hobby we chased together."

"Awww that's sweet," I smiled at him and I swear he blushed a little. "You were a comic book nerd. I never would have thought."

"What were _you_ into when you were fourteen?" He asked in response, clearly eager to get off the subject. It was sweet.

"When I was fourteen? Mmm…probably boy bands," I admitted with a laugh when Eric looked at me like I had two heads. "Well, it was that time in pop culture. I thought Justin Timberlake was seriously hot."

Shoot me. I was fourteen and 'N Sync was the most popular band on the planet. Not to mention I love dancing and that's what that music was made for. Back in the days when MTV still aired music videos, I was glued to TRL everyday after school and told Eric as much. I almost always missed the first half of the countdown but the best videos were always at the top end anyway. I remember getting all teary eyed and depressed when they retired _Bye Bye Bye_. Pathetic, I know.

"You know, it's a good thing you met me," Eric leaned a little closer to me again and his hand landed on mine on top of the table.

"Why's that?" I met his eyes and hoped he hadn't felt my hand jump a little when he touched me.

"Because you'll finally learn what good music is." His smile was devastating that close up.

For a split second I thought he might kiss me, or maybe I was just hoping he would. It felt like one of those moments but instead, he pulled back just a little bit, still keeping his hand on mine.

"Want to go see if a pool table is open?" He suggested instead and I nodded.

Playing pool was the furthest thing from my mind just then but maybe that was a good thing. I really needed to slow down.

**o.O.o.O.o**

"Worst pickup line you ever heard." Eric said as we walked to my front door.

"Oh God, I've heard some bad ones. I think the worst was how do you like your eggs in the morning, scrambled or fertilized?" I cringed at the memory of the particularly gross guy who had said that to me while I was in a jazz bar in the French Quarter with my college roommate Amelia.

"Please tell me you junk punched the guy who said that to you," Eric shook his head.

"No, but my roommate did. Amelia's a little more aggressive than I am." I said as we climbed the steps to my front porch. "What's the worst pickup line you ever used?"

"I don't." Eric said and I laughed in disbelief. "I don't, I swear. They never work and only become fodder for girls to talk about on first dates with respectable guys, or for girls to tell their friends about when they bitch about what pigs men are."

I could have been offended by his presumption but he wasn't wrong. I couldn't even count the number of times that particular subject had come up. Pickup lines were the kind of thing that straddled the line between hilarious and offensive and it was hard to tell which way they were going to go.

"Okay, so then what's the worst pickup line you ever heard?" I asked and leaned against the front door.

"That shirt is very becoming on you. If I was on you, I'd be coming too." He recited without hesitation and my mouth dropped.

"That's just gross!" I laughed along with him. It was amazing what sorts of things people would say, thinking it was sexy. How wrong they often were.

Then all of a sudden Eric got a little closer to me and reached for my hand. It was amazing how easily our hands fit together. "Best first date," he whispered, his face getting closer and closer to mine.

"Right now," I whispered, my eyes focusing on those freakishly kissable lips that were closing in inch by inch. "You?"

"Same," he whispered and then his lips brushed against mine.

If I got tingles from holding his hand, kissing him caused a damn near grand mal seizure. My lips followed his, not wanting to be left alone so soon. His free hand brushed my cheek and our eyes met. I smiled at him and then leaned in to really kiss him and I swear I exploded inside. I'd never had a reaction like that to kissing someone before. His hand moved to the back of my head and attempted to tangle itself in my hair. Damn ponytail messed up his plan so he settled his hand on my throat instead.

But before we could go too far, I broke the kiss as gently as I could. My body screamed in protest but I had to. All I could think about was that if he kissed that good, the sex would be even better and I wasn't going to be _that_ girl. I had never done the one night stand thing and I definitely didn't put out on the first date. I didn't even follow that three date rule.

"I have to go inside before I drag you in with me," I smiled nervously at Eric after catching my breath a little.

"I would be okay with that," he said in a teasing tone.

I sighed and said, "It sounds like a good idea now but I don't want to regret it tomorrow. Does that make sense?"

He nodded then leaned in to kiss me again. Just one more kiss and I would go inside. I figured that was an acceptable reward for flexing my will power. Only that kiss ended up lasting for almost ten minutes. I really didn't want to shoo him away but I had to.

"Can I see you again?" he asked when I pushed him back.

"I would love that." I squeezed the hand I was still holding in mine.

"Good. Then I'll call you tomorrow and we'll set something up." He promised and raised my hand to kiss the back of it.

"Okay. Thank you for tonight. I had a great time." I didn't want to let go of his hand but he was probably going to want to take that with him when he left.

"Me too. Goodnight, Sookie," he smiled as he backed down the steps, an impressive feat since he didn't look down once and he didn't stumble.

"Goodnight," I turned to unlock my door and stayed right there on the porch until his car disappeared at the end of my driveway.

Yep, that was definitely the best first date I'd ever been on.

* * *

><p><strong>*shoots myself up with insulin* I have extras if anyone else needs a shot. I'll be honest, writing fluff usually irks me a little, but this is fun so far for me. Huh. Maybe it's because I love picturing Eric as a comic book nerd. Who knows. Anyway, I appreciate the response from the first chapter. I'm glad you're liking this so far. Reviews are love!<strong>


	3. Howlin' For You

Chapter 3: Howlin' For You

"_Today I caught myself smiling for no reason… then I realized I was thinking about you." –Unknown _

**EPOV**

God I could have stayed on Sookie's front porch for the rest of the night, content to just look at her and listen to her talk, to say nothing of kissing her. Fuck me, I'd never felt anything like that from just kissing a girl before. Even the girl I once thought I was desperately in love with as a teenager didn't compare to what I felt when I kissed Sookie and kissing Signe had been a dream come true for me.

I couldn't help the goofy ass grin that broke out on my face as I drove home and _Your Touch_ by the Black Keys blared out of my speakers. I was no better when _Howlin' for You_ started just a few minutes later. I would never again be able to listen to that band without thinking of Sookie; I was sure of it. As I sped home I decided I would check online to see if they were touring, and if they were, I was going to buy tickets for any show within a 500 mile radius.

I pulled into my driveway just before midnight and marveled that it was still early, relatively speaking. Then again, most dates I went on ended up being of the one night stand nature. Sookie was different, however, and as much as I wanted her there was this little warning voice in my head that told me to slow the fuck down. Being in a relationship that wasn't based on orgasms would be a different experience for me.

Fuck, I might actually have feelings for this girl. Wasn't expecting that shit, I'll tell you that much. Not that I didn't have feelings. I had people in my life I loved but it was a relatively tight circle and I didn't invite new people into it easily. I had a lot of acquaintances but I was selective as hell about whom I really let get to know me.

One of those people had clearly let herself into my house since I found Pam lounging on my couch filing her nails when I walked inside. She must have parked her car in the garage. I hated it when she did that and she knew it. Mostly I hated it because it meant I didn't have any warning she was there. Pam was notorious for just popping up whenever she felt like it, no phone calls, texts or emails in advance to let me know she was crashing with me.

"I know you know how to use a phone," I shook my head at her as I came around to sit on the couch. She was tiny enough that her feet didn't reach the other end.

"And you know I don't leave messages," Pam said without looking up from her nails. "Where were you anyway? I was going to suggest we go get sushi."

"I had a date," I said casually and could immediately feel Pam's eyes boring into me.

"And you're home this early? Was she that bad in bed? Did she bite your danglers or something?" Pam snarked.

"No, she didn't bite my danglers." I rolled my eyes. Pam had her way with the English language, I'd give her that.

"So why the early ditch? Did she not want to put out?"

I said nothing. Usually this line of questioning wouldn't bother me. Hell, Pam had every right to ask considering my track record but I felt weird talking about Sookie that way even if it was hypothetically. Pam kicked my thigh and busted out laughing when I glared at her.

"You _like_ this girl?" Pam asked with disbelief.

"Is that so bizarre?" I almost pouted.

"For anyone else, no, it's not. For you, yes, it's a little strange." Pam tossed her nail file onto the coffee table, earning her another glare from me. Sandpaper and wood weren't really friends but she didn't seem to care. "Tell me about her."

"No way!" I laughed and shook my head.

"Why the fuck not?" Pam demanded, slender arms folding over her narrow chest.

"Because you'll come up with a million reasons why dating her is a bad idea and then try to move in on her yourself." I knew Pam's tactics.

"Fuck you, Northman, that was once and let's face it, it was obvious Ginger was playing for _my_ team anyway." Pam smirked at me. "Besides, this is the south. Isn't keeping it in the family a motto around here?"

"Sookie's not like that," I shook my head.

"Sookie? What the fuck kind of name is that?" Pam's eyes widened.

"It's a nickname, you twat." I rolled my eyes at Pam.

"And an awful one at that."

"Careful, _Pammy_." I snorted.

"Fuck you! Don't call me that." Pam glared at me. She hated it when I called her that.

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were shacking up with that model in Paris?" I leaned forward to untie my chucks.

"I was but then I met someone else and you know how short my attention span is." Pam shrugged it off. Like me, Pam seemed to be led by her dick. I couldn't wait until she met a person of substance that she actually had feelings for, especially if she planned to keep giving me hell over Sookie. "So answer me truthfully. Do you really like this girl?"

"I didn't fuck her, and not because I didn't want to. Does that answer your question?" I stared hard at Pam who seemed impressed.

"Look at you, all grown up," Pam clutched a hand to her chest.

"Shut it, Pam." I sighed and hauled myself up off the couch.

"Oh don't get your blue balls all up in a twist." Pam waved me off and reached for her nail file.

"How long are you staying this time?" I paused in the doorway.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I have about three weeks until my next job and then I'll be in Australia for about a week doing a shoot for Vogue. After that I'm meeting the parentals in London for a spell. Mummy is demanding I attend Patrice's second wedding."

"How _is_ Patrice?" I smirked and Pam practically growled at me.

I met Pam when I was sixteen and my parents decided to take me along to Europe for the summer. My father had set up a meeting with a colleague of his who was working at the University of St. Andrew up in Scotland. Pam was touring universities at her parents' insistence, in spite of having another year before she really needed to start applying to schools. Pam had no interest in college anyway but what she wanted never mattered much to her parents. They had given her an ultimatum: either go to college or get out. Since Pam liked the lifestyle she had become accustomed to, she chose college. I still have no idea what the fuck she majored in.

Patrice was four years older than her and already enrolled in St. Andrews, studying ancient history, of all things. Patrice was far more traditional than her 'wild child' little sister. The differences between Pam and Patrice were about as startling as the differences between Sookie and Jason, from all I could gather. Basically, the two sisters had nothing in common outside of their genetic material. Patrice was socially awkward and didn't speak much. She had a much softer demeanor than her sister, however, and because she was far more polite and willing to cow tow to what their parents wanted, she was deemed the favorite daughter.

"She's a cow," Pam said in her best native Manchester accent.

Where Pam was slender and almost willow thin, Patrice was definitely of a heartier stock. She was, dare I say, portly? I don't know what the right word was to describe her. Pam probably would have said 'rotund,' or maybe 'chubby as fuck.' Whatever the right word was, that was Patrice.

"I can't believe she found another cad to marry her," Pam shook her head. "She's as dull as talc."

"Not everyone can be as fascinating as you are, Pam," I said knowing full well she would snicker at my flattery.

"You know, if you're going to compliment me without getting laid first, I'm going to start thinking you've lost your mind."

"I love you too, Pammy," I winked at her and she gave me the finger.

That was my Pam.

Back before she figured out she was a lesbian we'd had a short relationship the summer after I graduated from high school. I'd traveled back to Europe with my mother when she decided she wanted to take a tour of dead writer's graves. Sounded like a cool idea and since she was willing to let me go off and do my own thing, I was more than willing to tag along with her. Pam made arrangements to meet up with us in Berlin where her grandparents had a house.

We had one too many beers one night and the rest is history. My mother ended up going off to Prague without me to see Kafka's grave and I spent the time she was away getting drunk out of my mind and fucking Pam senseless. It was a great two weeks but we quickly learned we made better friends than lovers. We were able to downshift into being just friends after that and six months later; Pam confessed she was pretty sure she was a lesbian.

We had a standing joke between us that I had turned her, but if anyone else made such a joke Pam would kick some ass for it. Almost ten years later Pam had become something like the sister I never wanted. While most kids would beg and plead for a little brother or sister, I was perfectly content to be my parents' one and only child. By the time I was old enough for the idea to be appealing to me; my parents were long past their childbearing years. Pam would just have to do.

There was a small mountain of suitcases stacked up in one of the two spare bedrooms upstairs. It certainly looked like Pam was planning to stay longer than three weeks but then she never packed light. We took a weekend trip to Austin once for the South by Southwest music festival down there and that required three suitcases. Pam never went anywhere without being prepared for any possible climate change. I swear she went through about fifteen costume changes that weekend like she was Madonna, or something.

I found sanctuary in the quiet of my bedroom. After booting up my laptop I reluctantly peeled off my clothes. Sookie's light, citrusy perfume clung to the soft material of my shirt and I didn't really want to lose the smell just yet. I forced myself to take it off though, because sleeping in it would have been a dead giveaway to Pam just how much I liked Sookie. While my laptop finished loading I went into the bathroom adjoining my bedroom to brush my teeth.

It was a damn shame to wash away Sookie's taste as well but it was a necessary evil. I stopped brushing for just a moment to contemplate all the things running through my mind. My current behavior was so unlike me. I wasn't the guy who walked away from what might have been a sure thing because I was so respectable or considerate of other people's feelings. I wasn't a total dick, but I just wasn't usually what most girls saw as long-term boyfriend material.

I didn't plan dates in advance unless it included a hotel room or buying condoms. I didn't talk about my teenage obsession with comic books or speak Swedish to girls unless I was sure it was going to get me laid. All of this taking it slow business was pretty new to me and the most troubling thing about it was that I was okay with it. For once in my life I didn't want to rush into something. What the hell was that about?

_You like her, you dumbass_, I internally berated myself and I knew it was true. And when I said 'like,' I didn't mean it in lusty kind of way. Yes, I wanted Sookie, no doubt about that, but I didn't feel that urgent rush to get in her pants. I actually liked talking to her. I liked hearing what she had to say. She was interesting, smart and funny, a combination I didn't usually keep an eye out for. I hadn't even been looking for it, if I was honest. I just knew she looked fuckhot in the dress she was wearing and there was something that drew me to her.

I still had no idea what the fuck that thing was and it was starting to make me a little crazy. I finished brushing my teeth and headed back to the bedroom to do a little surfing on the web before turning in. According to the Black Keys' website, they were playing a show in Dallas in six weeks. The show wasn't sold out yet and I told myself I would go see them regardless of whether or not I was still seeing Sookie at that point so buying tickets wouldn't be a waste of money.

With the tickets bought, I checked my email and then shutdown my computer. I set the laptop on my dresser and grabbed the remote from my nightstand. I channel surfed for a while since I was still a little too wired to go to sleep. I seriously considered calling Sookie, which was a bizarre impulse for me to have. I didn't even want to think about why just hearing her voice would have made me feel better. I already knew the answer to that and coming to terms with it was a little strange for me.

Before I knew it I'd watched an entire Proactive infomercial. Man, I was fucked. I had completely zoned out on Sookie, replaying bits and pieces from our date. Okay, so she definitely wasn't a singer. I'd found that out while we were playing pool and she quietly sang along to a Lynyrd Skynyrd song that was playing on the old school jukebox parked at the far end of the bar. What she lacked in vocal talents she made up for with the sway of her hips as she danced around the pool table to line up one stellar shot after another. She would make a great hustler if she ever decided to give that a go.

Any guy who set eyes on her would assume she was an easy mark. I had no doubt she could play the dumb blonde routine to perfection. All that silky blonde hair in combination with those innocent wide eyes and magnificent curves of hers would have any guy convinced she was out of her league. She could easily flirt her way into a game and then clean house. And people think men are the more dangerous predators?

Annoyed with myself, I turned off the television and stared up at the ceiling. I couldn't hear any other movement or voices in the house but I doubted Pam was already in bed. For as long as I'd known her she'd been a nocturnal creature, only really coming to life as the sun started to set. I was sure Pam had other reasons for coming to visit me than just breaking up with her flavor of the month but I knew better than to pry. Pam wasn't what I'd call an open book and even as close as we were, I knew she had her secrets. I was fine with that since I assumed whatever she chose to keep to herself was probably the sort of stuff that would have me running for brain bleach anyway.

Eventually I drifted off to sleep. My dreams that night were of Sookie, no surprise there; only they definitely finished what had been started while we were standing at her front door. As soon as she pulled me into the house clothes started flying in all directions and by the time we got back to her bedroom, she was down to her bra and a super fuckhot pair of lacy boyshorts that I was looking forward to ripping off of her. That is until I realized she had a pool table where her bed should have been. I wonder if that had anything to do with the less than gentlemanly images I'd had running through my mind while she had been bent over the pool table earlier? Huh.

When I woke up the next morning I was hard as a rock and beyond frustrated because of it. I told myself it was a trend I'd better get used to until further notice but that did little to ease my mind or the ache going south of my waist. Fucking REM cycle. I got out of bed and headed to the shower to take care of my not-so-little problem before going downstairs.

I had no plans for the day and like the whipped puppy I seemed to be, I was already wondering if it was too early to call Sookie. There were plenty of other things I could be doing with my time besides obsessing about her. Hell, she probably had a full day on her hands without me stalking her like some obsessed 'tween. Breakfast seemed like a good place to start so I got to it.

I wasn't that great of a cook but I could whip up a bowl of cereal with the best of 'em. I sat down at the kitchen table to eat and caught myself glancing at the phone every few minutes. Despite my best efforts not to think about her, I found myself smiling at the prospect of seeing her again. Yep, I was fucked.

When the phone finally did ring, I sat there completely dumbstruck like I'd never heard a phone ring before. Then I was a flurry of activity, tripping all over myself to get to it before the call went to voicemail.

"Hello?" I said breathlessly, praying to hear the sweet southern lilt of Sookie's voice.

"Good morning, Mr. Northman, this is Kayla Rae calling from AT&T and I'm calling today to find out if you're satisfied with your current long distance carrier-" Kayla Rae didn't get to finish whatever the hell her script said. I wasn't going let my phone line be tied up with telemarketer bullshit when Sookie might be trying to call.

I wasn't obsessed. I wasn't obsessed. Who was I kidding?

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so he's a <em>little<em> obsessed, but it's cute, right? What do we think of Pammy? I kinda like her snarky, sarcastic ass. If nothing else, she keeps Eric on his toes. Reviews are love! Thanks for reading!**


	4. A Little More You

Chapter 4: A Little More You

"_All a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to her that they are not all the same." –Marilyn Monroe_

**SPOV**

Getting to sleep after Eric dropped me off was damn near impossible. I felt like I was floating and for the first time in my life, reality was better than anything I could have dreamed up. Of course no one wants to reveal their flaws on a first date so I was left to wonder what Eric's imperfections might be since they weren't made visible to me at all. Even his scars were perfect and he had quite a few of them. I couldn't help but wonder how many more there were that I hadn't seen.

Of course that led to picturing him naked which didn't help my cause one bit. When I woke up I couldn't remember a single one of my dreams so I don't know if I dreamed of Eric or not but I'm sure I did. I was reluctant to get out of bed but it was well after ten and I hated feeling like I was wasting the day away. The sun was out and a quick look out my bedroom window told me there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

I dashed to the bathroom to take care of my usual morning business before heading to the kitchen to start up a pot of coffee. My brain doesn't function properly without coffee. I caught a glimpse of the flowers Eric had brought me the night before and I couldn't help smiling. They were absolutely perfect. Not a single rose in the bunch. Not that I didn't like roses but they always seemed so lazy to me, almost like they were an after thought. Roses had reached cliché status for a reason. I much preferred wildflowers to roses any day of the week.

Hell, I would have been happy with a fistful of dandelions. I went into the kitchen to smell the flowers and grinned at the light scent of the daffodils and lilies before going back to the kitchen to get started on breakfast. I had a whole list of chores that needed to be done before I could really get to enjoying my weekend. My first big plan was to spend a good hour out in the sunshine, working on my tan. Maybe I'd do some gardening.

I didn't have the greenest thumb out there but I'd gotten into the habit of lawn maintenance thanks to Gran and her love of flowers. I couldn't count the number of hours I'd spent on my knees, pulling weeds and helping Gran plant one thing or another. Jason used to complain all the time about having to mow the lawn but I gladly would have traded him for weed pulling. Why he seemed to think I was getting the better deal I'll never know.

I played back the messages on the machine, hoping there would be one from Eric. I knew it was early but there wasn't anything wrong with hoping. I'd just gotten my bacon into a pan when the coffee finished. I poured myself a cup while I listened to the messages. I had one from Amelia, calling to remind me that I better inform her of how my date went. The next message was from Jason, asking me to come over Sunday afternoon for supper. The third message was from Maria, letting me know she would be running over a spare key for me so I could collect the mail and water her plants while she and Alcide were on their honeymoon. As the last message beeped, I sucked in a breath. This was it; the moment of truth.

"Sookie, it's me," Bill's Rhett Butler accent filled my ears and I groaned. "I got in earlier tonight and I came by to see you but you weren't home. I'd really like to see you. I think we have some things we need to discuss. Please call me back at your earliest convenience."

Fuck. That. I deleted all the messages. I really needed to change my phone number. Or one better, maybe I needed to let Quinn know that Bill was back in town. Bill and I had a somewhat complicated history. He was my first serious boyfriend. We had dated on and off from about junior year of high school up until just after I graduated from college. I dumped him for good when I caught him making passes at my friend Tara just to spite me. I wasn't in the mood to play games with him and I really hated that he would stoop so low as to try and make me jealous.

Even worse, Tara was extremely uncomfortable about the whole thing and I couldn't blame her. She knew all to well what kind of shit Bill was capable of and in no way did she want anything to do with him. Bill was my first love and it hurt like hell when he broke up with me over Thanksgiving break our first semester of college. What hurt worse was when he brought home a new girlfriend over the Christmas break not even a month later. I suspected he'd already been seeing her before he broke up with me but he would never admit it if he was.

Bill could rot, for all I cared. If he was calling to tell me he wanted to give things another try, he was about three years too late. I wasn't interested in him anymore. It took every ounce of kindness I had just to be civil with him and even my ability to give him that little bit was slipping. Frankly, I should have just cut him out entirely but that was easier said than done in a town as small as ours, and made even more difficult given that he was my nearest neighbor. But that didn't mean we had to be besties either.

I flipped my bacon over before it started burning and drank some more of my coffee. I wasn't going to spend my morning brooding over what Bill might want from me. Instead I turned on the radio and adjusted the station until I got to the rock music. I didn't usually listen to that particular station but I figured I could give it a chance. I told myself it wasn't because of Eric but I knew that was a total lie.

By the time I was sitting down to eat about fifteen minutes later I still hadn't heard a single song I recognized. Oh well, it was probably for the best. I ate while looking through the newspaper I'd picked up from my front porch. The most fascinating thing I saw was Maxine Fortenberry's recipe for an Apple Brown Betty, and even that wasn't thrilling. Gran's was much better.

After breakfast I got to work on my chores, starting with the dirty dishes. A load of laundry was gathered after that and started in the machine on the mud porch. While the clothes washed I swept the kitchen floor and hauled out the vacuum so I could do the downstairs. The upstairs portion of the house only got tidied up once a month since it wasn't really being used anymore.

I'd always lived in the room across the hall from Gran up until she passed on and the house became mine. Since it was just me and I was now living in Gran's old room, there was no need to do much with the upstairs. Jason still had some of his stuff up there and I kept a bed ready for him just in case he and Crystal got into an argument. So far he'd only had to seek refuge here twice, which I considered to be pretty good considering I knew how infuriating my brother could be.

He had a good heart; he was just lazy. He said a lot of things without thinking a lot of the time and despite having grown up under the same roof I did, his manners left a lot to be desired. But he was good with Evie so I couldn't really fault him. I would have thought he'd run as fast as his bum knee could take him when Crystal told him she was pregnant. He'd had a little bit of panic there in the beginning but I couldn't really blame him for that either. He and Crystal hadn't been together for very long when she found out she was pregnant.

When Jason suggested the baby might not be his, I smacked him upside the head. I hated it when men tried to use that as an excuse to shirk responsibility. If a guy doesn't want to be a father, he can just call his girlfriend a whore and claim she slept with someone else. That really, really bugs me and I was furious with Jason for pulling a stunt like that. When I straight up asked him if he thought Crystal had cheated, he admitted he didn't think that was the case. I almost smacked him a second time just to be sure the first one took. Lord knows the worst I would do is spook the squirrels that lived in there.

I got the dry line all set up out back to hang my wet clothes on. Letting everything dry in the honeysuckle scented air always appealed more to me than using the dryer, unless it was icy cold outside. Winter and I weren't exactly friends but we got along as nicely as we could. I was a summer girl who preferred warmer temperatures conducive to sunbathing. Tanning was my biggest vice—next to coffee.

I did my vacuuming and dusted everything off before going out to the front to sweep the porch there, all the while keeping an ear out for the phone. When it did ring, it was just Sam calling to find out if I'd be interested in picking up a shift at the bar on Tuesday since Arlene had year end parent/teacher conferences to attend. I was hesitant to do it, thinking that might be the one night Eric would be free to go out.

But then I chided myself for being selfish. Arlene and I had had our differences in the past, but I adored her kids. So for their sake, I agreed to cover for their mother. Besides, having a little extra cash in my pocket wouldn't be so bad. My student loans were kicking my ass big time and the sooner I could pay those bitches off, the happier I'd be. I made decent money as a nurse in Dr. Ludwig's office but probably not as much as I'd make if I went to work at one of the big hospitals in Shreveport, or at the trauma center in Clarice.

"Can you be here at five?" Sam asked hopefully.

"I'll see if I can get off a little early. I might need to borrow uniform though. I don't think I have one lying around here anywhere." I reminded him.

"Not a problem. Thanks, Sook, you're a lifesaver," Sam said with relief.

"No trouble, Sam. See you Tuesday." I hung up shortly after that and got back to my chores.

**o.O.o.O.o**

Jesus, I was pathetic. I'd never been one of those girls who waited around to see if the phone rang (at least not after a first date) and yet, the idea of going to the grocery store lost all appeal to me at the thought of missing Eric's call. When the hell did I revert to being sixteen? I shook my head at myself but still hung around the house, inventing chores for myself to do instead of getting on with my life like I should have.

_A watched pot never boils_, I kept telling myself and forced my eyes away from the phone, like I could actually will it to ring if I stared at it hard enough. I think I took the fastest shower of my life when I finally decided there were no other chores that needed to be done. Like the pathetic sap I had become, I immediately checked the answering machine when I was done just in case I hadn't heard the phone ring. Nothing.

_Keep it up and he won't call._

The thought of not hearing from Eric again made me a little sick to my stomach. Doubts started to creep into my mind when it was almost dinner time and I had yet to hear from him. He'd said he'd had a good time the night before and I believed him… but maybe it wasn't as special to him as it was to me. Ugh. I hated feeling the way I did. How was it possible to be so strung out over a guy after just one date?

Okay, so it was an amazing date, but still…

I decided I needed to get out of the house and stop obsessing. He would call when he called. Staring at the phone was obviously not going to make him call any sooner and I really did need to go to the grocery store. With a heavy sigh I went in search of my favorite flip flops and slipped them on. I was totally dragging my feet on leaving, hoping he would call before I left and not while I was gone.

The phone remained silent and if it could've given me a taunting smile, I'm sure it would have. Bastard electronics. I walked aimlessly around the grocery store, grabbing the things I needed as I passed them. I had no idea what I wanted for dinner but I knew I needed to come up with a plan of some kind. That got me thinking about the possibility of maybe having Eric over for dinner at some point, but that would require he actually call me.

_Stop it, Sookie! He'll call when he's ready!_

When I got home there weren't any messages on the machine. I was putting groceries away when there was a knock on the screen door at the back porch. I stopped what I was doing in time to see Bill walking toward the back door. Fantastic! Just what I needed. I groaned and steadied myself for another round of why-don't-you-love-me, since that seemed to be his favorite game for us to play.

"What are you doing here, Bill?" I sighed as I reached for the canister I kept my cereal in.

"I left you a message last night. I need to discuss something with you," he said, apparently just as ready to skip the pleasantries as I was. Good. Maybe we'd get through this shit a little quicker that way.

"Yes, and I've been busy." I snapped at him, gesturing to my pristine kitchen.

"Judith is pregnant," he said without bothering to ease me into the topic.

I wasn't sure what he was expecting me to say but what came out was, "Congratulations." I mean, honestly, why would I care? Who he knocked up ceased to be a concern of mine right around the time I told him we were over for good.

"This doesn't bother you?" He looked disturbed by that.

"No, Bill, it doesn't bother me. Why would it? We haven't been together in years. I'm glad you've moved on." I shrugged and started putting my cold items in the fridge.

He was quiet, even for him, and just stood in the doorway for a while, watching me while I worked. His eyes on me felt all kinds of wrong and it was hard to imagine a time when I needed him more than I needed oxygen. Of course that was my teenage brain at work. Back then everything felt so all or nothing, life and death. But it dawned on me, as Bill continued to watch me like a total creeper, that I'd never felt the same level of comfort with him as I did with Eric.

"Look, Bill, I'm seeing someone." I figured I might as well get it out there. Maybe that would help unfuck whatever had clogged in his brain. "It's new and I'm not sure where it's going but I really like him. So if you came over here thinking we could give things another shot, that's not going to happen."

Bill remained uncharacteristically silent for having just been rejected. I realized he was off somewhere else mentally, even though his body was leaned against the door frame. I sighed and went over to the kitchen table to sit down.

"Do you want to talk about this Judith thing?" I asked, hoping he would either say whatever the hell it was he wanted to say, or just get the hell out.

He snapped out of it, straightened up a little and slowly made his way over to the chair across from mine at the table. I was thankful he didn't try to sit next to me because that would have been too much. I really didn't need him clutching on me while he poured his heart out. Just listening to him was my good deed for the month.

"I'm not sure how I feel about being a father. You know I've always been on the fence where children are concerned and this pregnancy wasn't planned," Bill confessed with a hint of shame. "She wants to get married, Sookie."

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that smacking Bill upside the head the way I had Jason probably wouldn't be as effective, even if I pretty much always wanted to smack Bill for one reason or another. "Do you love her?"

"Of course I love her," Bill said as if I should have known and I narrowed my eyes at him. "I mean, yes, I love her. She's a good person and I do enjoy spending time with her."

"It sounds like you're talking about a close friend or a relative and not a girlfriend." I screwed up my face in an expression of confusion. "I guess I should have asked if you're _in_ love with her."

"I used to be," Bill shrugged.

"And she still thinks you are in the present, I'm guessing," I sighed and shook my head. "Who'da thought you and Jason would end up having something in common besides me?" I bit back my laugh when Bill gave me a that's-only-funny-to-you face. Whatever, sour puss.

"She's refusing to discuss the options. Judith is going to have the baby with, or without me, and she's not giving me a choice in the matter." Bill pouted.

"William Thomas Compton, are you telling me you tried to talk her into having an abortion?" I glared at him and his guilty expression was all I needed to know I was right. "You son of a bitch."

"I didn't ask for this!" He whined as if it mattered.

"And _she_ did? Or are you going to be a stereotypical asshat and claim she's trying to trap you? Newsflash: birth control is never 100 percent effective! Women get pregnant while on birth control. Condoms break, a pill gets skipped…whatever the situation, pregnancy happens. That's the risk you take by having sex with someone, Bill. You know this." I shook my head and found myself incredibly thankful I never told him about the pregnancy scare I'd had back when I was twenty.

We'd gotten back together for all of six weeks and during that time; we'd had more sex than we'd had in all of our sexual past with each other. I wasn't taking birth control at that point so we were relying solely on condoms. I couldn't recall one breaking and we sure as hell never had sex without one, but about two weeks after we broke up again, I realized my period was late.

The following five days had been spent taking pregnancy tests and praying to God that my cycle had just gotten knocked off course. Every test I took was negative and when my period finally came, I strongly considered a vow of abstinence until marriage so I would never have to go through something like that ever again. That way, when I thought I was pregnant, I would be happy about it.

Having a baby with Bill after our first breakup never appealed to me. Hell, if I was completely honest with myself, the sex was decent but it really wasn't worth all the confusion and frustration it ended up causing me. Ultimately I learned it was probably a bad idea to have an ex as a fuck buddy.

Bill did the trout mouth thing, where he tried to find a rational argument to refute my points but he was just spinning his wheels. The phone rang and I was thankful for the sound. Eric's face popped into my head and I sincerely hoped it was him so I would have a reason to tell Bill to get out. I couldn't help him with this problem of his. He made his own mess.

"Hello?" I said when I got to the phone.

"Hello yourself," Eric's voice filled me and I grinned like a child finding out they were going to Disney World for the first time.

"How are you?" I wanted to do my little happy dance that looked a hell of a lot like Chandler dancing on Friends, but I couldn't do that with Bill sitting a few feet away.

"I'm a little shaken up right now, to be honest," Eric admitted and my urge to happy dance died completely. Fuck, was he going to tell me he didn't want to see me again after all?

Shit, I needed to get rid of Bill. "Eric, can you hang on for a second?"

"Sure," he said and I covered the mouthpiece of the phone.

"Bill, I'm sorry but I have to take this and it's personal so can we talk about this some other time?" I asked him, hoping that 'other time' would be never, or when he finally decided to man up and take care of his responsibilities.

"Is that the new guy?" He asked with a hint of jealousy.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Yes, it is. Now scoot before I get my shotgun."

I wasn't kidding. I kept a loaded shotgun behind the water heater, which was within reaching distance of where I was currently standing. Bill didn't scramble to get up but he knew me well enough to know I wasn't fooling around. Instead of passing me to go out the back door, he went through the front.

_Sure, Bill, you're welcome. Thanks for coming by to unload your clusterfuck of a situation into my lap. Hope its twins!_

"Sorry about that," I said into the phone after I heard the front door close. "My ex came by to tell me the oh-so-happy news that his current girlfriend is pregnant."

"You don't sound impressed."

"I don't really care one way or another, to be honest. Bill and I broke up about three years ago and what he does with his life isn't really my concern anymore. I hope things work out for him and his current girlfriend, especially if there's a baby involved. I may not be Bill's biggest fan but that kid deserves to have two parents in its life, and even better if they love each other." I shrugged.

"That's very gracious of you."

"No point in being bitter or jealous. Bill isn't mine anymore and I don't want him to be, if that's what you might be thinking." I told him.

"No, I was actually thinking about how much better I feel just hearing your voice, even if you're talking about an ex-boyfriend." Eric confessed and what little bit of ice had formed around my heart, thanks to Bill, started to melt away.

"If I didn't know any better, Eric, I might think that was a line," I smiled into the phone.

"Nope, just the truth. I've had to restrain myself from calling you for the better part of the day."

"Why did you do that?" My eyes went wide at the thought we were probably staring at our phones at the same time for the better part of the day. "You could have saved us both some frustration."

"Does that mean you were sitting around waiting for me to call?" He chuckled and I knew I was busted. "Oh, come on, Sookie; don't leave me hanging out on this creepy, stalker limb all by myself."

I laughed and said, "I don't think it's creepy, and yes, you wouldn't be alone on the limb."

"Well, at least we're both in the same boat," he sighed and I wished he was standing there next to me so I could squeeze his hand or something. "Listen, I uh, I know it's probably against dating rules of etiquette or something, but I was wondering if you've eaten yet?"

I covered the phone and did a silent scream thing and officially let myself do that damn Chandler dance. _Get it together, you nutter!_, I cleared my throat and said, "No, I haven't. I was actually just trying to decide what to make. You could come over."

Did I really just say that? Yes, yes, I did. Thank God I cleaned the house.

"I could do that," he said and I could hear his smile. "Want me to bring anything?"

"Just you. Oh, and I don't really keep anything in my fridge to drink except milk, iced tea and white wine." I warned him.

"Got it." There was a pause then and I wondered if he was doing his own version of the Chandler dance on his end. Maybe something with yummy hip thrusts. "So I'll see you soon then?"

"Soon." I nodded, not that he could see it. "I'm glad you called."

"Me too," he whispered.

We said our goodbyes and hung up. After another round of Chandler dancing, I hauled ass to my bedroom to get changed.

* * *

><p><strong>Freaking Bill is such a knob, I swear. We won't be seeing a whole lot of him, I don't think. I don't particularly like writing him. His tendency to whine gets on my nerves. But I think Sookie handled him well considering how smitfaced she is right now. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	5. Tigthen Up

Chapter 5: Tighten Up

"_Only now it had become indispensable to him to have her face pressed close to him; he could never let her go again. He could never let her head go away from the close clutch of his arm. He wanted to remain like that for ever, with his heart hurting him in a pain that was also life to him." –D.H. Lawrence_

**EPOV**

"Where are you of to?" Pam asked when I tried to sneak out of the house. Of course she would catch me and of course she would want to know where I was going.

"Bon Temps," I said, not wanting to deal with her teasing.

"Is that where Sookie lives?" Pam asked as if she already knew the answer. "Never mind. That shit eating grin on your face already told me. Spending the night are you?"

"Just having dinner, Pam," I sighed and opened the front door since my car was still in the driveway. "Oh, and please don't park in my garage anymore. I hate it when you do that."

"I know," Pam said dismissively and headed back to the living room to continue doing whatever she was doing. My guess was cyber bullying, but I wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out.

I had tried to get Pam to talk about whatever the hell it was that had her crashing in one of my guest bedrooms but just as I expected, she wouldn't say a word about it. She was content to wallow in her misery alone. I suspected she would max out a credit card or two on designer clothes and shoes she would probably never wear, but it made her feel better. We all had our ways of self-medicating; I had no right to judge her. Although my chosen way—running- was an infinitely cheaper option than charging my way into the poor house.

I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a six pack of Heineken. I didn't know if I would drink it or not but I figured it couldn't hurt to have it on-hand. I also looked in the bakery section to see if anything looked good. Sookie hadn't asked me to bring anything but I figured a little something sweet couldn't hurt either. If we didn't get to it, she could keep it or send it home with me. I had somewhat of a dangerous sweet tooth.

I ended up picking up a small triple chocolate fudge cake since I was pretty sure Sookie would veto the idea of being used as the serving dish for a hot fudge sundae. I cursed myself as soon as I pictured it, knowing it was going to end up in my dreams later. Dammit. I paid for the cake and beer (I can only imagine what the cashier must have thought at seeing that particular combination so close to dinnertime) and went back to the car.

_Tighten Up_ filled the car as I backed out of my parking space and I ended up singing quietly under my breath as I drove. I had to remind myself to slow the fuck down so I didn't get popped for speeding. I'd already gotten one speeding ticket in the last six months; I didn't need another one. I really should have bought a car that was less conducive to speeding but I just couldn't see myself behind the wheel of a pickup truck or, God forbid, a mini-van.

But thoughts of mini-vans got me thinking of carting around little blond haired kids with big blue eyes and that was a real kick in the balls. Did I want kids? Well fuck. _Too soon, Northman_, I told myself and shook the thoughts away. I mean, I guess that was an important topic to discuss, if only to find out if that was something Sookie wanted in the future. Why stay with someone who doesn't want kids if you're planning on being the world's best soccer mom at some point?

By the time I pulled into Sookie's driveway I had come to the conclusion that while I wasn't ready for it yet, kids would actually be pretty cool. I hadn't ever given it much thought in the past, except for when I was praying a broken condom didn't lead to one of those Maury Povich type moments where I'd hear the words, "You are the father." My stomach turned at the notion of it.

Somehow, I didn't think it would be so bad if it was Sookie saying those words and that was enough to give me pause. Seriously, what the fuck was it about her that turned me inside out like she did? I really wished I knew what the hell it was but the answer kept evading me. I grabbed the beer and cake from the trunk and then headed up to the front door. There was a note taped to the little window telling me to just walk right in, so that's what I did.

"Hello?" I called out once I was inside the house. I could hear country music coming from the back of the house and figured that was where Sookie had to be.

"Eric?" She called out in response and my brain immediately pictured her calling out my name in a similar fashion while she was trapped underneath me, writhing and moaning in pleasure.

_Knock it off, asshole_.

I really needed to cut that shit out. I wasn't doing myself any favors by going there and yet, I couldn't help it. I walked back toward the music to find Sookie in the kitchen, just as I suspected she would be. She was dressed in a pair of cut-off shorts and a tight pink tank top. Her hair was down, hanging in loose waves down her back. I cleared my throat and she turned my way to smile.

"Hi." She was covered in flour up to her elbows and it even dusted the front of her tank top, which had a big brown owl on the front that reminded me of the one from the Tootsie Pop commercials.

"Hi yourself." I smiled back at her. "Hope you don't mind, but I brought cake."

"Of course not. That was sweet of you, thank you." She smiled again and pulled her hands out of the floury mess she was working on.

While she was over at the sink washing her hands, I walked over to her and kissed her bare shoulder. "You're welcome."

She froze for a second and I heard her suck in a breath. A little victory cheer went up in my mind. At least I wasn't the only one affected by kissing her. Hell, I wanted to turn her around right then and there, floury, doughy mess and all and really kiss her but I figured letting her get cleaned up a little first was a good idea. As much as I might have liked it, I knew she hadn't invited me over for sex. If I behaved myself, that was a privilege I might earn soon.

"So, what's for dinner?" I handed her a towel to dry her hands when she finished washing up.

"Well, that's going to be biscuits over there," Sookie nodded toward the flour mess. "I was thinking to make chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes if that's okay with you?"

Uh, yeah. "Sounds good. Can I help with anything?"

"Do you cook?" Sookie asked curiously while going to the pantry to get ingredients out.

"Some. My mother tried to teach me when I was younger but I'm mostly proficient at grilling things. I guess it's leftover caveman genes or something. Men like fire and whatnot." I said and she chuckled.

"Does that mean I should be on the lookout for being clubbed over the head and dragged by the hair later?" Sookie teased as she came out of the pantry with what she needed.

"Is that your way of telling me you like it rough?" I teased right back and that blush of hers was remarkably appealing.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see," Sookie shrugged it off and I fought the groan that crept up my throat.

If she knew what she was doing, and I was pretty sure she did, then baiting me was a bad idea. Although not any worse than her choice of wardrobe. Not that she didn't look good because she did, and that was the problem. Her shorts just barely covered her perfect ass and her tank top was low cut enough to give me a taste of the magnificent cleavage I knew she had. But before I could get too far lost in thoughts of how good she'd look naked on her kitchen table, I forced myself to look at the collection of cow figurines in a shadow box on the wall.

"Like cows, do you?" I asked, nodding to the figurines to my right.

"Oh, those were my Gran's. I just haven't got the heart to throw them away." Sookie explained while going back to the pantry for potatoes. "How are you at peeling potatoes?"

"I have ninja skills," I smirked as she approached me with her hands full of potatoes.

"Good. Have at it," she handed them to me. "I have a peeler and a paring knife. Which would you prefer?"

"The peeler." No way in fuck did I want to try and act all bad ass with a knife and end up in the emergency room when I took off the tip of my finger.

Sookie located the peeler for me and handed it over. I'd been relegated to the roll of potato peeler for my mother when I was younger. Thanksgiving morning meant peeling at least five pounds of potatoes. Even when we were living in Sweden, my parents had insisted on observing the holiday. It was the same for the fourth of July, which was particularly confusing to all my little Swedish friends.

"So what did you do today?" I asked Sookie while I got to work peeling the potatoes for her.

"Chores, mostly. I did laundry, dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, grocery shopping, dusting…you name it, I did it. I was going to go lay out in the sun for a while but there'll be time for that tomorrow. I'm having dinner with my brother." Sookie told me while she started putting together the spices for the breading on the steak.

"How's Jason with the two of us seeing each other?" I asked casually. Frankly, I didn't really care what Jason thought. He could be pissed off at me all he wanted to, but I didn't want him to be mad at her.

"He warned me that you aren't exactly the faithful type," Sookie glanced at me but quickly put her head down again. "I think he's a little worried you're going to break my heart."

I stopped what I was doing and set down the potato along with the peeler. "There are two things you should know, just so we can clear all this up. First of all, I've never cheated on anyone. I may not have been the most commitment friendly guy in the past, but I never made promises of fidelity if I had no intention of being able to keep my promise. Second of all, I can't make a promise to you that I won't break your heart. Shit happens in relationships that can't be anticipated and feelings get hurt. I'm taking just as much risk as you are by us being together."

"That's fair," Sookie nodded, a hint of a smile lifting the corner of her mouth just a little. "For what it's worth, I don't really take most of what Jason says all that seriously. I know he's just looking out for me but I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions, especially where relationships are concerned. And if I thought he was right in any capacity, I wouldn't have invited you over."

"Careful, Sookie, a guy might start to think you like him," I snorted quietly and resumed my task.

"Maybe I do," she shrugged and I stupidly kept right on peeling even though my head whipped around to look at her. Next then I knew, there was a searing, burning pain in my index finger and I realized I'd skinned myself.

"Shit!" I dropped the peeler along with the potato and headed for the sink, hoping I didn't get blood everywhere in the process.

"Ninja, huh?" Sookie smiled at me as she came over with a wad of paper towels so I could put pressure on the cut.

"You distracted me," I narrowed my eyes at her and she pulled my hand from under the water to look at it but I tried to pull it back.

"Eric, let me look! I see blood all the time. I'm a nurse, remember?" She reminded me and I suddenly had images of myself with a cold and Nurse Sookie hovering over me in white lingerie with a stethoscope around her neck. Oh yeah. Best. Cold. Ever. "It looks pretty superficial. Wash it and then keep pressure on it while I go get my first aide stuff."

I did as I was told, washing my hands and then wrapping my bleeding finger with the paper towels she'd handed to me before going to the kitchen table to wait for her. She came back a few seconds later carrying a little red plastic box with a white cross on the top of it. She pulled out the chair next to mine and sat down to patch me up. She was gentle in her movements and explained everything she was doing while she did it. She poured a little Bactine on the cut just to make sure it was good and clean, then put vitamin D ointment on it before wrapping a bandage around it.

"How's that?" She asked, her eyes looking up from her handiwork to meet mine.

"Stings a little," I admitted with a smile.

"Your adrenaline is wearing off," she scrunched her nose. But then she lifted my hand and kissed the bandage right where the cut was. "Does that help?"

I nodded since it really did seem to help. Even better was when she leaned over even further and kissed me on the mouth. "Are you this good to all your patients?"

"Just the good boys who don't cry," Sookie smiled and then started to clean up the mess. "I have some latex gloves if you want to wear one over your bandage. Although, I'm not sure they'll fit you, come to think of it."

"I'll give it a shot," I shrugged and Sookie pulled a glove from her first aide kit for me. The glove didn't exactly fit but it would do while I finished peeling potatoes. No way was I going to let a little cut sideline me.

We made it through the rest of dinner prep without further injury and by the time we sat down to eat, my finger didn't hurt anymore. I figured it would take about a week for it to heal enough that I didn't have to keep it bandaged anymore. I smiled at the realization I was most likely going to have another scar to add to my collection, but what really got me was knowing the story of it would always make me think of Sookie.

I cut into my steak and I swear, the second I put it in my mouth it started to melt. I groaned in appreciation and Sookie smirked my way. "Good, huh?" she asked while buttering one of the biscuits she'd made.

"Amazing." I said after I swallowed my mouthful of food.

"Good. I'm glad you like it." She drizzled a little honey on her biscuit and then lifted a half to her mouth to take a bite.

When _she_ moaned, my reaction wasn't quite so tame. Instant hard-on. Of course that one moan had me thinking about what other noises she made and it turned out that eating meant Sookie conducted her own symphony of sex noises. I briefly stared up at the ceiling, glaring at a God I couldn't see and 'thanking' him for having such a great sense of humor.

"What are you looking at?" Sookie asked at my side.

"Oh, I uh, I thought I saw a bug," I totally lied but no way was I going to tell her I was trying to come up with ways to rid myself of the epic wood I was sporting.

The look I got from Sookie told me she wasn't buying it for a second but she didn't push for anything more. When we were done eating a short time later, I insisted on helping her with the dishes and did the washing while she dried and put them away. The domesticity of the act wasn't lost on me, nor was the feeling of how comfortable it all was considering I hadn't even been given a proper tour of her house yet.

"So, what would you like to do now?" Sookie asked once we were finished with the clean up. She grabbed my hand to check that my bandage had held up under the glove while washing dishes. "My, my, Grandmother, what big hands you have," she snorted and smiled up at me.

_The better to feel you up with, my dear_. Yeah, I kept that shit to myself so as not to get smacked. She would have been well within her rights and I knew it. That was one surefire way to put the evening in the crapper and I had no intention of doing that; not when things were going so well.

"Your hand still looks good. Does it hurt?" She asked with concern in those big blue eyes of hers.

"Not really." I shrugged and she looked relieved. "How about showing me around the house?"

"Oh my gosh!" Her mouth hung open and she shook her head. "I'm usually a better hostess than this."

Was she serious? In the two or so hours I'd been with her she'd made me dinner, offered me numerous drinks and bandaged my hand when I totally failed at peeling potatoes. If this had happened at Pam's house I'd be lucky not to have gangrene by now.

"Sookie, it's fine. We were cooking." I shifted my hand so it was holding hers and again, she seemed to relax a little.

"I'm sorry, it's just that my Gran raised me with this proper protocol for new guests and…" she trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.

"And what?" I urged when we hadn't moved and she hadn't spoken.

"I don't think well around you," she finally admitted and it was a bit of a stunner.

"You don't?" Could have fooled me. She was constantly saying things that were witty and smart without sounding like a know-it-all, or bitchy the way some girls did.

She shook her head but offered me nothing more by way of explanation. Instead she pulled me along and showed me around her house. It wasn't very big but all of her rambling informed me that the house was quite old. It had been in her family for generations, which I knew was pretty common in small towns like Bon Temps. Up until her, I'd never had a reason to set foot in Bon Temps and I still had yet to see the town in the daylight hours. I hoped that would change soon, even if there wasn't a whole lot to it, to hear her tell it.

I could tell what furniture had been recently replaced and I was glad to see some that most of the wooden pieces were old. Dad had gone on a restoration streak when we moved back to the States and had bought up a lot of antique pieces of furniture that he refinished himself. Everything I knew about the process, I learned from him. Where Dad learned it from, I wasn't entirely sure and until I was dragging my fingers across an old sideboard table in Sookie's dining room, it had never occurred to me to ask.

There were pictures hanging all over Sookie's house, some of them as old as the early 20th century. Family members she'd never met sat stiffly and without smiles on their faces. It always struck me how you never really saw people smiling in really old photos and I wondered when it was that trend had changed. Probably when pictures didn't take hours to develop like they did way back when and people would have to sit still in the same pose for longer than they could stand. I probably wouldn't feel like smiling too much either in those conditions.

"So that's pretty much it," Sookie said after we'd walked around pretty much the whole house.

"Pretty much?" I knew she'd left out her bedroom but I wasn't going to push to see that either.

"Well, there's the mud porch with the washer and dryer on it but that's not really all that exciting," she shrugged and nibbled her bottom lip. I wanted to know what she was thinking and as if she knew it she said, "I didn't show you my bedroom because I would be too tempted to stay there and I'm not ready for that yet."

"Sookie, it's fine. When you're ready, I hope you'll show me everything," I told her, hoping she would catch the little double entendre I'd used there.

She nodded and then hugged me. I wasn't prepared for it but it felt nice. I hadn't felt that much of her pressed up against me yet and I found I liked the feeling of it. My arms closed around her tiny frame and I was finally able to let my fingers comb through the silky strands of her hair. A little sigh escaped her and it felt like whatever tension had been in her body completely faded away.

She pulled back and looked up at me. "How about we go for a walk?"

"Sure, I'd like that." I took a chance and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

She let me and when I lingered a moment too long, she tilted her head a little further back and stretched up to kiss me on the lips. It was gentle and mostly chaste and _definitely_ over way too quickly. She was so warm and soft in all the right places. Most girls I had dated in the past would be horrified by the curves Sookie had but I liked them. I liked that she wasn't afraid to eat or enjoy food just because it tasted good.

"I'm just going to go put on a pair of jeans and grab a sweater. I'll be right back," Sookie promised and then left me standing in her living room while she went to change.

I walked over to look at the painting hanging over her mantle and quickly determined it must have been a painting of her house. The front porch was the same, as was the line of trees to the left of the house. Just as Sookie had said, the house in its current state needed some work. With a little TLC and some time, I was sure the house could look as beautiful as it did in the painting. I was filled with thoughts of doing the restoration work together. I could just imagine what my old man would say if I told him about all this. Maybe a trip to his garage was necessary in the near future. Dad always had been able to help me get my head on straight.

"Okay, I'm ready to go," Sookie emerged from the back of house in a pair of tight jeans with a sweatshirt tied around her waist and a pair of running shoes on.

"Lead the way." I reached for her hand and she let me take it.

**o.O.o.O.o**

After a lengthy walk around Sookie's property, which included a tour of a centuries old cemetery, we decided to go back to her house and put in a movie. The warm chocolate microsuede of her sofa was begging for us to snuggle on it. Sookie led me over to the cabinet that held her DVD collection and told me to take my pick.

"You don't have a preference?" I asked her over my shoulder as she moved around the living room.

"I've seen them all, Eric. Sorry there aren't too many action films in there. I like the classics, mostly. And sci-fi/horror films. The bloodier the better," Sookie admitted, which was also a surprise.

It seemed like just about every girl I'd ever dated for even just a slightly extended period of time was deathly allergic to anything that couldn't be categorized as a romantic comedy. Not that I was completely against the rom com genre but the best movies were never romantic comedies—at least not in my humble opinion. I browsed Sookie's collection and grinned when I saw an entire row of Hitchcock movies. They weren't bloody but they were all innovative, suspenseful and just plain awesome.

"I think we have a winner," I grinned and pulled a copy of _The Silence of the Lambs_ from the shelf.

"What'd you pick?" Sookie asked while retrieving a blanket from an ottoman with a hidden compartment in it. I held up the DVD for her and she smiled. "I do wish we could chat longer, but…I'm having an old friend for dinner."

All of the lines I could think of to quote were sexually based so I decided not to play along. Instead I handed over the DVD to her so she could put it in the machine. I went over to the front door and kicked off my shoes, figuring she wouldn't want them propped up on her clean couch. I returned to the living room and sat down at one end of the sofa and hoped she wouldn't sit too far away from me. I was serious about that snuggling thing.

"Do you snack while you watch movies?" Sookie asked while the DVD loaded.

"Not usually."

"Good, because I don't think I have any popcorn in the house right now. I forgot to pick it up earlier," Sookie untied the sweatshirt from around her waist and tossed it on the arm of the couch. "Lights on or off?"

"It's a scary movie." I said as if that should answer the question for her. Truthfully, I was just curious to see what would happen if we were alone in the dark with a movie playing we had each seen several dozen times. Sookie switched off the light and when she moved to sit at the far end of the couch, I reached out to grab her arm. "I promise to behave myself."

"You better. I'd hate to have to show you just how strong my kung fu grip is," she plopped down beside me on the couch.

My arm went around her shoulders and she found the perfect niche in my chest, as if we had been doing this snuggling thing for years. She grunted when she had to lean forward to retrieve the remote to start the movie. With her settled next to me, I was hit with a sudden wave of how right it all felt. The quiet sound of the movie score played and Sookie's little hand was splayed out on my stomach, her fingers scratching absently and lightly at my t-shirt. I wondered if she even realized she'd started doing it.

I wanted to kiss her again but that didn't seem to be on the menu. Instead, we stayed relatively still with the exception of the slight shift of our fingers as she scratched my stomach and I twirled her hair around my fingers. She actually purred at one point which made me smile to myself.

"You keep that up and I'm going to fall asleep," she said with a yawn.

"Want me to go so you can get some rest?" I offered and hoped like hell she didn't say yes.

"Don't you dare move. I'm quite comfortable just as I am." Sookie snuggled against me.

Kissing was good, but the snuggling was even better.

* * *

><p><strong>And I thought Sookie was the one who was smitfaced. Well, at least they seem to be on equal footing. So much for Eric's ninja skills...I kinda wonder if he did that on purpose, to be honest. He won't tell me. Oh well. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	6. Rain On A Tin Roof

Chapter 6: Rain on a Tin Roof

"_They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered." –F. Scott Fitzgerald_

**SPOV**

I woke to the sound of rain pinging on the tin roof that still covered the kitchen. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The TV screen was bright blue, signifying the movie was over. I sat up to stretch and realized I had been lying on Eric for Lord only knew how long. I had no idea what time it was and since the sky was darkened due to the impending storm, I couldn't find any clues there. I rubbed my eyes and turned toward Eric.

He looked so peaceful, despite how uncomfortable he must have been in the position he was. He was still sitting up in the corner of the couch, his neck bent at an awkward angle so his head could rest on the back of the couch. He was a little slouched, but not too much. His poor neck was going to be sore later. I debated over whether or not to wake him up but decided it would be mean to leave him there on the couch like that.

Of course there was then the debate over whether or not it was a good idea to bring him back to my bedroom with me. While we were both clearly wiped out and I wasn't going to make him drive home in the rain, I wasn't sure that meant he got a free pass into my bed. I wanted to believe we could behave ourselves. Eric hadn't made as much as a move on me while I was still awake. He'd played with my hair until I fell asleep and I sincerely doubted he'd tried to cop a feel after that.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled a little louder than before. I took a deep breath and shifted my position on the couch next to him so I was sitting on my knees. I reached up and delicately touched his cheek. There was just a hint of scruff there and my crazy brain thought it would be a good idea to rub my face against it. Thankfully, the order didn't carry out to the rest of me or I'm sure I would have done it. That would have been a hell of a way for him to wake up with me rubbing myself all over him like a kitten would.

"Eric," I whispered, not wanting to scare him out of sleep. That was an awful way to wake up. "Eric, sweetie, wake up."

He grunted.

I brushed the back of my hand against his cheek again and leaned a little closer to his ear. "Eric, wake up."

I looked up at his face and there was another grunt but that was all. Then all of a sudden his arms moved and crushed me against him. It might have been sweet if he didn't have such a tight grip on me. It was almost like he was afraid to let me go.

"Eric, let go," I said a little louder than a whisper but there was just more grunting. Geez and I thought Jason was a sound sleeper. "Eric, honey, wake up."

When that failed and his arms just got tighter around me I decided it was time to get creative. Or maybe I was just looking for an excuse to kiss him, which was exactly what I did. His lips were warm and dry but responded almost immediately when I pressed mine to them. I licked his lips to see what would happen and the next thing I knew he was kissing the daylights out of me. Oh yeah, and he was still asleep.

I pulled back and apparently that was the trick to getting his eyes open. I was staring into his eyes with a goofy grin on my face. His arms were still wrapped around me in that death grip and I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as I tried to catch my breath.

"What happened?" He asked with confusion, his eyes still sleepy.

A bolt of lightning illuminated the room briefly and I couldn't help but touch his cheek again. "I was trying to wake you up and you sorta pounced on me." I giggled.

His arms loosened their hold and he said, "I'm sorry, Sookie. I was dreaming about… well, I was dreaming and then you were… yeah, I'm sorry."

"Eric, it's okay. And for what it's worth, I started it." I admitted to him so he wouldn't feel guilty about the whole thing.

"Still, I'm…I should go." Eric let go of me entirely and started to sit up. He paused to rub his neck while I sat there flabbergasted.

"Eric, it's going to get crazy outside. You don't have to leave. I was just waking you up so you could…" I stopped there. If he didn't want to stay, I wasn't going to make him.

"So I could what?" He looked over at me.

"Well, I mean, you can stay here on the couch if you want but I was hoping you'd come with me."

"Come with you where?" Eric asked. I really didn't want to spell it out but I was going to have to since his brain wasn't firing on all cylinders.

"To bed, silly. I trust you to keep your hands to yourself. But if you want to go home…"

"I'll stay." Eric said immediately and I tried to fight the smile that so desperately wanted to break free.

I didn't say anything else. I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV before taking Eric's hand and leading him back to my bedroom. He shuffled along behind me and once we were in my room, we stood at the foot of my bed. I was definitely changing out of my jeans. I hated sleeping in them and saw no reason to keep them on just because I was sleeping next to Eric.

"I'm going to go change real quick. Make yourself comfortable," I smiled over my shoulder at him while I dug out a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top with a bra built into it.

"How comfortable? I usually sleep naked," Eric informed me with a sleepy, sexy smirk on his face.

Thank God it wasn't bright enough for him to see me blush. I really didn't need to think about him being naked in my bed. I was a strong woman but I wasn't _that_ strong. "Not that comfortable."

"Pity," Eric said and started to pull off his t-shirt.

I should have turned around and gone to the bathroom to change but I couldn't stop myself from watching him. That is until I saw the first flash of his abs and I started considering the notion that it would be unfair for him to be the only one topless in my bed. That was when I turned and hauled ass into the bathroom to keep myself from gawking at him. No doubt I would end up with all that bare flesh pressed up against me and that was going to be challenging enough to handle. Or, not handle, as the case may be.

I brushed my teeth and combed my hair out after changing clothes. Jesus I never went through that many outfit changes in a day. I thought about braiding my hair or piling it up on my head but left it down on account of Eric's affinity for twirling strands of it around his fingers. If he enjoyed it, who was I to deny him such a simple pleasure?

I turned out the light and went back to the bedroom to find Eric standing next to my bed in a pair of boxer-briefs that left precious little to my overactive imagination. I gulped and forced my eyes up to his. I stepped closer to the bed and was thankful Eric had chosen the other side since I almost never slept over there.

I pulled the quilt back on my side and waited for Eric to do the same. There was a slight chill in the house thanks to the storm. A loud boom of thunder had me jumping out of my skin and clutching my chest. "Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea!"

Eric barked out one of those big laughs and launched himself into bed, nearly landing on top of me. "Don't worry, Sookie, I'll protect you."

If he wasn't careful, I wasn't the one that was going to need protection.

He buried his face in the crook of my neck and my hands settled on his bare shoulders. Jesus, he was big. He was holding most of his weight up on his arms and even so, he was heavy on top of me. Not crushingly so, of course, but that pleasant kind of way that made a girl feel safe and protected. He'd certainly accomplished his mission. The truth was I had a slight phobia of thunderstorms.

Actually, I didn't really like the dark much at all. I figured it had more to do with not knowing what might be lurking in said darkness that I was afraid, but I usually slept with my bathroom light on and the door left open just an inch or so. I blamed my fear on Jason and I playing Hide 'N Seek as kids. I would find a creative place to hide—usually a dark, confined space- and Jason would give up so quickly when I never picked any of his lame ass hiding places that I would end up stuck for hours. One time I ended up being in the crawl space in the attic for so long that Gran called the sheriff, thinking I'd gone missing.

So yeah, dark places weren't really my favorite after that happened. Then you throw in that spooky ass thunder from out of nowhere? No thanks. I liked rain because it sounded beautiful pinging against the tin, but I saw no reason for thunder or lightning to accompany the it, thank you very much.

Eric eventually rolled over and took me with him. I ended up half sprawled on his broad chest with my head resting on his shoulder and his arms circling me so his fingers could play with my hair. What was it with him and my hair anyway? Not that it mattered since I didn't mind it. It was actually very relaxing.

"I don't like thunderstorms." I whispered after a big rumble overhead.

"Don't think about it," he whispered while gently twirling a section of my hair. "Focus on something else and you won't even notice."

Lucky for me I was resting a few inches from his heart and I sank down a little bit so I could hear it. "Much better," I whispered and smiled against his skin. "What are you afraid of?" I yawned into the darkness.

"Mimes." He said without hesitation and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you; I just wasn't expecting that."

"They don't talk and all that makeup! God, and no matter how much you try to shoo them away they won't leave!" Eric said with exasperation, only making me laugh harder.

"I'm sorry," I gasped for air and tried to settle myself down.

"I'm glad you find this amusing," Eric said and I looked up to see him pouting just a little.

"Awww, I really wasn't laughing at you." I stretched up and kissed his chin. "Just how much experience have you had with mimes anyway?"

"Enough," Eric shuddered under me and I forced myself not to laugh.

I snuggled back into place and concentrated on the sound of his heart beating under my ear and the feel of his fingers playing in my hair. It was nice. It was comfortable. I could get used to it.

"Sookie?" he whispered.

"Yeah?" I couldn't open my eyes by then even if I wanted to.

"Thank you for letting me stay," I felt a kiss press itself against the top of my head and I smiled against his skin.

"Night, Eric," I whispered and then I was gone.

**o.O.o.O.o**

When I woke up a few hours later I was curled on my left side with Eric spooned up behind me and I was still lying on his arm. The poor thing had to be out of circulation and I knew that was going to be painful when I rolled off of it. Eric's poor bandaged finger was dangling off the edge of my bed and I reached to try and curl his arm in toward me. That was when I realized he had one of his legs thrown over both of mine and in moving his arm; I must have alerted the rest of him that he wasn't sleeping alone because he pressed himself against me a little firmer.

I gasped at the poking device that was pressed into my back. Sweet baby Jesus in his manger! Would it be wrong of me to reach back and shake hands with the merchandise since it seemed intent on being friendly with me?

_Yes it would_.

I sighed and tried to figure out how to keep myself from going crazy or waking him up with any weird energy I might be throwing off. I closed my eyes in hopes of maybe going back to sleep for a little while but then a roaming hand landed on my breast and hugged me closer. My eyes popped open as a warm cheek nuzzled my shoulder.

_Oh hell._

The debate from the night before about waking him picked up where I left off, only now I was without the option of kissing him. My hands immediately volunteered to do the work my lips couldn't and I gave them strict orders to stay right where they were. I was not going to molest Eric in his sleep.

I didn't even really want to wake him up but I had a feeling I wasn't going to have much choice in a few minutes. My bladder suddenly came to life and demanded it be emptied. I whimpered in my indecision and tried my best to get out of Eric's hold. The problem with that was it meant wiggling against the poking device that was pressed against my backside and I was pretty sure the more I wiggled, the harder it was going to be to escape him.

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.

I managed to get my legs free and then it was just a matter of slipping out from under his arm. I was pretty sure I had it until I realized he was lying on my hair. Son. Of. A. Bitch. Since when was snuggling an extreme sport?

I was trapped. I tried to free my hair from underneath him but that wasn't working out too well. Dammit, now how was I going to wake him up? Clearly rolling over wasn't a viable option and I refused to let my hands go where they wanted to. There was always the arm that I had been laying on. I tried trailing my nails up and down the inside of his wrist, thinking maybe the tickling would at least get him to shift a little so I could get my hair free but all that did was get his arm wrapped around me again.

_Fuck._

I wasn't a very good escape artist. My last boyfriend hadn't really been a snuggly sleeper or a snuggler in general. He would give me a few minutes of cuddle time after sex, but otherwise he preferred to stick to his side of the bed. Once in a blue moon I'd find myself waking up pressed against his side but it was rare. Eric, on the other hand, probably would have tucked me into his chest for the night if he could have.

Since I was running out of options _and_ time, I gently bit his bicep. He grunted behind me, the first sign that maybe I was getting somewhere with him. I peeled his arm off my stomach and remembered the pressure point in his palm. I squeezed where I thought it was and I felt him jump behind me. I guess it worked.

"I'm sorry, but I have to pee!" I jumped out of bed as soon as he rolled onto his back and my hair was free.

I moaned with relief when I got to the bathroom. I had never, in my life, been so happy to see a toilet. When I was done I brushed my teeth and washed my hands before going back to bed. Eric was still stretched out on his back and he was staring in the direction of the bathroom with a confused puppy look on his face.

"That wasn't how I was hoping to wake up this morning," he told me.

"I know! God, I'm sorry. I tried to get up but first you were all wrapped around me and then when I got free you were laying on my hair…I tried to wake you up in a more gentle way first, I swear." I climbed back into bed with him.

"Here, I'll play dead. Show me," he offered with a smile on his face and his eyes closed.

I laughed and moved his arm so it was stretched out again. My fingers trailed up and down the inside of his wrist and his lips curved up into a smile. "I started with that, but it didn't work." I flattened out so I was lying on my stomach next to him and I was grateful I couldn't see any bite marks on his arm. "So then I tried this," I said and lightly bit the inside of his arm.

"Ah!" He shifted but in a ticklish kind of way and not like he was in pain.

"Like that, do you?" I kissed where I bit.

But then I was covered in what had to be 200 pounds of Eric, crushed against my mattress. I was a little too aware of where his man bits were for my own good and apparently my ass decided to rebel along with my hands since it wiggled against him.

"Careful Sookie," he breathed in my ear.

Good Lord he was so close to my neck. Since he had me pinned down he reached for the back of my knee and how he knew that was my most ticklish spot next to my sides just above my hips, I'll never know. It was probably a lucky guess and he was handsomely rewarded when I squealed with surprise and laughter.

"No fair!" I said between pulls for air. "You're bigger than me." I tried to pout but it didn't last since I couldn't stop laughing.

It was the weakest thing either of us had ever heard and Eric was laughing right along with me. I tried to push up on my arms but that didn't really seem to get me anywhere. I thought back to when my brother and I used to play fight when we were kids and obviously this was a little different since Eric was obviously excited about being on top of me, whereas my brother would have been willing to knock me out in order to win. I decided my best weapon was to go with what I knew were Eric's weaknesses.

So far I had a slightly dead arm, a cut up finger and maybe the ability to get one of my hands behind my back between us to my advantage. He was so focused on my knees that he must not have been paying attention to my arm reaching behind my neck because the nipple pinch he got seemed to surprise him.

"Hey!" He barked and moved off of me. "Now who's not playing fair?"

"Awww did I hurt you?" I stuck my bottom lip out at him.

Taunting him probably wasn't smart considering the fact that he'd just rolled off me and I quickly flipped over onto my back. That way if he attacked me again, at least I would have a little more control over what was happening. Eric stayed on his side a few feet away from me. I was convinced he was playing possum. All of my instincts kicked in along with the memories of fighting with my brother. I knew better than to get close to Eric and try to comfort him unless I wanted to end up pinned under him again.

With Jason at least I could knee him if I had enough. I didn't do it often but there had been a few times when I just wasn't in the mood to play around with him and no amount of me telling him to knock it off would work. Amazing how one good shot in the nuts would keep him away from me for weeks. I wouldn't be doing that to Eric, however.

"You could kiss it better," Eric suggested and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't hold your breath on that one. You totally cheated! You have at least fifty pounds on me, not to mention something like ten inches." I shook my head dismissively.

"I'll show you ten inches," he yanked me closer to him and I was too stunned to speak.

"You aren't going to make me get out my tape measure, are you?" I snorted a few seconds later.

_Playing. With. Fire._

All kinds of warnings were going off in my head that I was on unstable ground and it didn't help one bit that I was trapped under him, _in bed_, and wearing barely there clothes. The ground got shakier by the second when I noticed the look in Eric's eyes. Oh boy. It was the same look I got before he kissed me on my front porch two days prior.

"I'll be happy to get it for you," he swept some of my hair away from my neck and then leaned down to kiss the little scar on my chest.

_This is a red alert!_

My hands were just about to disregard their order to stand down when my phone rang beside my bed. Maybe I rolled out from under him a little too quickly but I knew what was going to happen if I ignored my phone. I was relieved to hear my brother's voice on the other end of the line. He was calling to confirm that I was coming by later on.

Apparently Eric was undeterred by the fact that I was on the phone since his fingers were creeping up my back underneath my tank top, tickling their way up my spine. I squirmed again and when I started laughing, I reached behind me to slap away Eric's hand.

"Stop it!" I hissed in his direction but he was relentless.

"Sook, you got company?" Jason sounded strangely proud of me.

"Eric and I fell asleep while we were watching a movie and I wasn't going to make him drive home in the storm," I clarified for Jason, not that it was any of his business.

"Uh huh. Well, bring Eric with ya if you want. The more the merrier." Jason said cheerfully.

"I'll ask him. I'll see you later," I told Jason and hung up a moment later. "You're trouble!" I glared at Eric after I rolled over to face him again.

"You like it," he rolled on top of me again and wasted no time planting his lips on mine. Sweet baby Jesus could he kiss. I didn't even mind the morning breath. "And just so you know, _that_ is how we were supposed to wake up."

* * *

><p><strong>Morning cuddles, play fights and talks of phobias...and that's all without mention of those ten inches. *gulp* Wonder how long it'll be before Sookie gets to confirm if Eric's exaggerating. Oh wait, I already wrote it. Since y'all have been super awesome, I'll do teasers if you leave me a review. I've been such a slacker about responding. I must remedy that. This makes sure I do. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	7. Just A Little Heat

Chapter 7: Just A Little Heat

"_He could not forget the touch of her arms around his neck, impatiently felt as it had been at the time; but now the recollection of her clinging defense of him, seemed to thrill him through and through,-to melt away every resolution, all power of self-control, as if it were wax before a fire." –Elizabeth Gaskell_

**EPOV**

I was on my way to a new record. I'd been seeing Sookie for just over three and a half weeks and I wasn't sick of her. If anything, the opposite was happening. The more I saw her, the more I wanted to be around her. Everything was clicking like it was supposed to be, or so I'd heard. Imagine my surprise when it dawned on me one day that Sookie and I were actually _friends_. I'd never really bothered with that in the 'relationships' I'd been in in the past. They were all based on intense sexual attraction and the rest was just filler between orgasms.

With Sookie, it seemed to be the total opposite. That's not to say I wasn't extremely attracted to her, because I definitely was. Keeping my hands off of her was difficult, at best, and after that night I spent at her house it only got worse. The good thing was, that night seemed to kick things into gear. We'd spent a decent amount of time making out in her bed before she pulled the plug and scampered off to the kitchen to make us breakfast.

I was expressly forbidden from touching anything sharp and when I got hit with spatter from the frying bacon, I was banished to the other side of the kitchen entirely. Apparently Sookie considered me a culinary liability. Her words, not mine. She invited me to go along to her brothers but I'd passed on the invite and took a rain check for the next time.

While it was true I already knew Jason I knew I would be up for boyfriend inspection and since Sookie and I hadn't really talked about what the hell we had going on between us, I figured it was best if I pass on the family dinners until we'd come to a decision. I'd gone home with the inclination to do a little cleaning around my own house since Pam sure as hell left a mess in her wake, and things being disorderly started to bother me after a while. I wasn't a neat freak, per se, but I did like things to be where they belonged. At the very least, trash shouldn't be left strewn about on various flat surfaces. Pam was a terrible house guest.

I hadn't even been apart from Sookie for two hours and I already missed her. I might have thought it was pathetic if it weren't for the fact that it made me happy. I'd never really missed any of my previous girlfriends. I was usually relieved when they made other plans. Mostly because it meant I wasn't going to end up getting dragged along while they shopped, or stuck in some lame theater watching a rom com that I had no interest in.

Thankfully Pam wasn't at my house when I got back. Her bags were still upstairs so I knew she hadn't left town. I wondered if that meant she hadn't bothered to come home the night before. Her bed was still made, suggesting she hadn't. I got a few blissful hours of quiet to clean the house up and do some reading before Pam showed up looking all chipper and bogged down with shopping bags. Whoever said money couldn't buy happiness clearly hadn't studied Pam, and Pam should _definitely_ be studied.

I fell into a new routine after that weekend. I was usually content to spend rather long hours at work. Owning my own business was nice because it meant being my own boss but it also meant I did most of the work. I generally preferred it that way since it tended to mean there were fewer fuck ups for me to fix later on. I kept my staff pretty lean and Chow was my right hand man down at the shop. He knew even more about comic books than I did.

The idea to open a book store that specialized in locating rare volumes had actually been my father's idea. Being that my mother was an English lit professor and my father taught European history, there were books galore around the house. While most of my friends were reading R.L. Stine books back in fifth grade I was already working my way through Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's collective works. I was advanced for my age, what can I say?

The store did well and was frequented by various college professors and academic types who were working on thesis papers, or just straight up collectors. I'd gotten my hands on a few priceless finds I wouldn't sell unless I absolutely had to. I was in the middle of doing some tracking on a shipment I was expecting one afternoon when Mom randomly popped in. She did that from time to time after she got her nails done at the salon at the other end of the strip mall from where my store was.

"Hey baby," Mom smiled at me, wiggling her fingertips as she walked toward the counter.

"Hi Mom. I didn't know it was nail day. You should have told me so someone else could cover for me." I told her since we usually ended up going to lunch together.

"Not today, sweetheart, I have tons of errands to run for that dinner thing at your father's school." Mom sighed and straightened a little carousel of bookmarks on the counter.

"What dinner thing?"

"You know that achievement award thing his department is throwing," Mom looked at me like I should have known what she was talking about. "Your father didn't tell you?"

"Nope, this is the first I'm hearing about it." I wasn't really all that surprised. Dad didn't really like making a big deal about things.

"I'm going to strangle that man! How is it that he can remember the most random dates in history but he can't remember to tell his son about award dinners?" Mom shook her head in frustration.

"You know how he is, Mom," I closed my laptop and set it off to the side.

"And whether he likes it or not, this is a big deal. It's Friday night at the college. Can you make it?" Mom leaned against the counter.

I had plans with Sookie that night and as soon as I hesitated, Mom gave me what I affectionately referred to as The Face. It was the kind of look only a mother could give, seeing as it was part threat, part guilt, and it worked every damn time she used it.

"Don't you dare even think about saying no," Mom warned me when I didn't speak up quickly enough for her.

"It's not that. I already have plans on Friday but I can change them…assuming I can bring a date along." I told Mom and she immediately perked up.

"A date? Since when do you bring girls around to meet us?" Mom drummed her fingertips against the countertop.

"Since I actually like this one," I admitted to her and I swear, I thought she was going to faint.

Mom looked around and then reached over the counter to feel my forehead. "You alright, son? You _are_ my son, aren't you?"

"Very funny." I deadpanned.

"Well honey it's not like you've introduced me to any of the girls you've been seeing accept for that one time when I didn't call first and-"

"Stop! Can we please not relive that?" I squeezed my eyes closed. I didn't want to think about whatever her name was, or the fact that my mother had caught me having sex with her on my sofa in the middle of the day.

Mom shrugged and said, "Well, at least this new girl seems to be quite lucky, if the noises the last one was making are any indication."

"God, Mom," I rolled my eyes and she chuckled at my disgust.

Thank God my mother didn't teach sexuality or something. I would probably be in therapy three times a week if that was the case. As it was, Mom couldn't stop chuckling at my discomfort. This had to be some sort of karmic payback for all the injuries I'd suffered as a child that had her rushing me to the emergency room. God sure had one hell of a sense of humor.

"So are you going to tell me the new girl's name, or should I just assign her a number?" Mom asked when she finally stopped laughing.

"Her name is Sookie. She's a nurse in a pediatrician's office over in Monroe and she lives in Bon Temps. She's twenty-four and went to Tulane. And if Dad ever gets a tour of her house, he's going to go absolutely apeshit over it." I recited for her.

"Is it antebellum?"

"Not even close but it's been in her family for about five generations, I think, and I'm pretty sure some of the furniture in it is original." I explained and Mom grinned.

"If you father goes over there, he might never leave." That was a true statement right there. "Got a picture of her?"

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and found one that was acceptable to show Mom. It was a simple picture I had taken one afternoon while we were sitting on her porch swing together. Her hair was down and she smiling pretty for the camera. I handed my phone over to Mom, whose eyes widened.

"She's a stunner," Mom smiled at me. "I'd like to meet her, even if you don't bring her along on Friday night. No pressure though, of course."

No pressure, riiiight. That was code for 'she better come for Sunday brunch in the next two weekends or I'll track her down myself.' I don't know who Mom thought she was fooling.

"I'll talk to her about it later. Just how formal is this event?" I had no idea if Sookie had formal wear in her closet or not and I knew enough about women to know that shopping for big events took time. Thanks, Mom.

"Black tie. I bought my dress three weeks ago."

Fuck.

"I'm going to strangle Dad with his own bowtie." I shook my head.

"Oh no, I get first dibs. I told him to call you as soon as the invitation came and he promised me he would." Mom started drumming her fingers again.

"Well, I promise I will call you later and let you know if Sookie will be attending as well, how's that? If she's not up for it, I'll reschedule with her; she'll understand." I knew she would. Sookie took family things seriously and she wouldn't be pissed at me for canceling on her to spend time with my parents.

"That's acceptable. Well then, I'm off to go make sure the alterations are done on my dress. I'll talk to you later, baby," Mom leaned over the counter to accept the kiss on the cheek I offered her and then she was gone.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before dialing Sookie's number.

**o.O.o.O.o**

I was grinning like a dope to see Sookie's car parked in my driveway. I'd told her where a spare key was hidden so she could let herself inside. I pulled into the garage and headed into the house, pausing to inhale the delicious smell that hung in the air. Sookie had learned how to make just about every traditional southern food from her grandmother and it all tasted amazing. I'd started running every morning because of it. Southern food was delicious but it wasn't exactly healthy.

I found Sookie in my kitchen with all the burners going on the stove. I dropped my laptop bag on one of the kitchen chairs and then strode over to her to kiss her hello. She was stirring a sauce of some kind and when I saw pasta cooking in the large pot in the back, my smile got even bigger. Mac 'n cheese that didn't require a powder mixture—I was in heaven.

"It smells great in here," I kissed her neck. "And the food smells good, too."

"Smooth," Sookie stopped stirring her sauce long enough to kiss me back, but pulled away before we could get too far into it.

The week before she'd been making fried chicken and we got so wrapped up in our exchange that she ended up burning a pan of thighs. It might have been tragic if we didn't end up ordering pizza instead and spent the wait time for the delivery making out on my couch. Fried chicken would have been good, but making out was a nice consolation prize.

"What are you making?" I asked her while going over to the fridge to get a beer.

"Mac 'n cheese and I have ham baking already," she smiled over her shoulder. "And if you think you can manage to not cut yourself, those green beans in the sink need their ends trimmed."

I narrowed my eyes at her. I was never going to live down the potato peeling incident and I could only imagine what my mother would say about it when Sookie told her, since I was sure she would. In fact, I was sure Mom and Sookie were going to get along great. With Sookie's love of classics, she was going to get along great with both of my parents. Between Dad making history his living and Sookie's house being full of it, they would have plenty to discuss. Hell, they might even forget I was at the table with them.

"I think I've got it, Chef," I smirked at her and reached for the cleaver just to see her roll her eyes at me and she didn't disappoint. I laughed and then grabbed the paring knife instead. "So have you given any thought to Friday?"

"Are you sure you want me to meet your parents?" Sookie asked while stirring her sauce. "I mean, that's kind of a big thing and we haven't really talked about where this thing with us is going so if you're not sure-"

"I'm sure. I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want you there. And personally, labels aren't really all that important to me. I'm with you, and that's it. I don't want to be with anyone else and to me that's all that matters, whether I call you my girlfriend or not." I told her and she bit her bottom lip nervously.

"So if I start introducing you to people as my boyfriend you're not going to freak out on me for it?" Sookie let go of the whisk she was holding.

"Nope. I think you're stuck with me." I smiled at her and I swear I'd never seen her move more quickly than I did at that moment. Her hands pulled my face down to hers to kiss her.

My arms ended up wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to me. For maybe the hundredth time since I met her, I thought about how I could probably live on her kisses if I wanted to. Thankfully the oven timer went off to keep us from getting carried away and Sookie pulled back to turn it off.

"Would you please take the ham out of the oven for me?" Sookie whispered against my lips.

"Yes, dear," I kissed her once more and then did as she asked.

Dinner was amazing, as it usually was when Sookie cooked. We cleaned up the kitchen together and went for a walk around the neighborhood since it was a nice night outside. When we got back we put in a movie and snuggled up together on my couch. Usually Sookie didn't spend the night during the week but she had a bag sitting on the stairs, leading me to believe she intended to stay the night.

Almost a month into the relationship and we hadn't had sex yet. That was the longest I'd been with a girl-since high school- without having fucked with her. The crazy thing was that I was okay with waiting. I was following Sookie's lead and while there was a part of me that was loathed to admit it, she definitely called the shots in our relationship.

About forty-five minutes into _Planet Terror_ Sookie started nodding off. I grabbed the remote and turned off the movie. If she fell asleep I wouldn't be far behind her and I didn't really want to sleep on the couch when there was a huge bed upstairs waiting for us. I rubbed her arm and whispered to her.

"Sookie, let's go upstairs."

She grunted and tried to snuggle closer to me. "I'm comfy right here."

Of course she was comfy; she was stretched out. I slid out from under her and then scooped her up off the couch. She didn't even try to fight me like she usually did whenever I'd try to pick her up. Maybe that was one of the perks of being the boyfriend and not just the guy she was seeing. Whatever the reason, I was a happy bastard when she just snuggled against me and let me carry her upstairs.

I set her down on the bed and then went back downstairs to lock up the house and get Sookie's overnight bag. When I got back to the bedroom she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. "Your bag is on the bed," I told her with a quick kiss to the side of her head.

"Thank you, boyfriend," she called out after me when I left her to her nightly routine.

Sookie emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later with a clean face and teeth. She walked over to the bed and dug her nightgown out of her bag. I was surprised when she didn't return to the bathroom to change. Maybe she figured I was too engrossed in my emails to pay much attention to what she was doing but a half naked girlfriend was infinitely more interesting than tracking information on a shipment that was officially a day late.

She had her back to me and had peeled off her t-shirt. Her arms came up behind her back and unhooked her bra before sliding that off as well. I held my breath as the lace hit the end of my bed. It took every bit of will I had not to grab her around her waist and drag her into bed with me right then. This whole being respectable thing and not pushing for more was really wreaking havoc with my balls. The number of hard-ons I'd willed away was starting to make me a real bitch to be around at work, no matter how many visits I got from Rosy and her sisters. My dick felt as if it had gotten all it could from its relationship with Rosy; it was ready to upgrade.

Unfortunately, Sookie didn't seem to be at that point yet. If I was really honest with myself and ignored my own frustration, I admired her for having the conviction to hold out until it wasn't just about a hormonal rush. If I had done that, the number of women I'd slept with would be much smaller than it was. Not that I really wanted to think about it, but I wondered what Sookie's magic number was. The very idea of her being with someone else made my stomach turn but it would be really fucking hypocritical of me to judge her for not being a virgin when I had lost my own V Card more than a decade before. But then being tall and playing football in high school will get you laid no matter what.

I held back a whimper of disapproval when she pulled her nightgown on. It wasn't even really a nightgown, so much as a giant t-shirt. With that knowledge in mind, I seriously considered slipping one of my old shirts into her bag before morning. I liked the idea of her sleeping in my clothes, if only because it was a way of marking her in her sleep. Weird, I know, but it just struck me as hot.

I wanted to reach out and touch that warm, smooth skin of hers but I kept my hands to myself. She reached under her shirt and unbuttoned her jeans before sliding those off as well. She folded up her clothes and put them back in her bag. When she turned around she stopped short. "What?" She asked, staring at me curiously.

Fuck. What the hell expression did I have on my face? Shock, awe, desire…a combination of them, probably. "Nothing." I shook it off.

"Okay…" she said with uncertainty and set her bag on the floor at the foot of the bed. She climbed up next to me and rested her head on my shoulder while I pointed and clicked around the web.

If anyone else would have done that, I would have found it supremely annoying. I hated having someone standing over my shoulder watching me work; it drove me up the fucking wall. But it seemed Sookie was destined to be allowed to break all kinds of rules with me without me giving one single fuck about it.

"I felt it," she whispered quietly, her fingers trailing up and down my arm.

"Felt what?" I asked while I read.

"You watching me," she tilted her head up to look at me and I was afraid, yes afraid, to look back at her. She didn't sound pissed but maybe she was. "You know, you don't have to be so restrained all the time."

Now that got my attention.

"What do you mean?" I closed my laptop because I had a feeling I knew exactly what she was talking about.

Sookie moved the laptop out of the way and I felt myself tense up a little bit. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to will away another hard-on if that's what she had in mind and I didn't want to start something we couldn't finish, as much as I wanted her... All the fucking time. Sookie climbed onto my lap as soon as the laptop was safely out of the way.

"You've been very patient with me," her hands settled on my neck. "And I appreciate that because I wanted…I've rushed into things before because my brain just went into overload. But you're different and I don't want to make the same mistakes I've made in the past. But then there's a part of me that doesn't want to wait anymore either."

Was it possible Sookie and I had more in common than I would have thought where relationships were concerned? She was ideal girlfriend material. Any guy who couldn't see that deserved repeated junk punches every day for the rest of his miserable life. I already knew about one of her exes on account of him being there when I called the day after our first date. Lord help the asshole if he tried to make another move on Sookie. She was mine.

_Mine._ There's a possessive pronoun I didn't usually use to describe a woman. Yet, it felt exactly right where Sookie was concerned. There goes another one of those rules, but it wouldn't be right to call her _mine_ if she couldn't call me _hers_.

"Sookie, I'm okay with waiting. I'm not used to it but you're worth it. Any guy who says any different doesn't deserve you." I picked up one of her hands and kissed her palm.

She smiled at me and said, "So um, I was thinking Friday night…you know, after we get back from that thing with your parents we could…well, we could see where things go. No pressure or anything."

She was proposing a sex date? Seriously, how could anyone turn that down? I was a little stunned but as soon as that passed, I was one happy motherfucker. Three days. I could do three more days, right? Three days was nothing after more than three months. Wow. Three months since the last time I had sex? Jesus. That was a devastating drought and I realized how pathetic that was. Not because I should have been banging a ton of random chicks in that time but because in the larger scope of things, three months wasn't really that long.

"I think we can work something out. We'll just do whatever feels right." I promised her and she nodded, biting her bottom lip nervously. "Hey," I grabbed her face and pulled it closer to mine to catch her eyes. "It's because I care about you that I haven't pushed. When you're ready, it'll happen."

For a second I thought she was going to cry but instead she leaned further into me and hugged me. Her head rested on my shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her. I rubbed her back until she got past whatever dark cloud was hanging over her head. I wasn't used to doing the comforting thing but it seemed I wasn't too bad at it.

"Thank you," Sookie whispered as she sat up.

"Anytime," I tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Bedtime?"

She nodded and climbed off of me. She stretched out on her side and I leaned over to turn off the light before spooning up behind her. Our fingers laced together at her hip and with a kiss to her shoulder, I fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>So what'd y'all think of Mama Northman? I kinda love her. She's got a great sense of humor, believe me. We'll see more of her, and meet Papa Northman, next chapter. And a sex date has been set, sort of... We'll be learning more about Sookie's relationship history because it's bigger than just Bill. Hmm...anything else? *reserves comment on epic True Blood anger* If you want to talk about last night's episode of True Blood, please send me a PM instead of leaving a review so we don't spoil the folks who haven't seen it yet. Deal? Sweet! Also, I had so much fun doing my review responses yesterday that I'll do teasers again. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	8. Welcome to the Family

Chapter 8: Welcome to the Family

_"Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing, and the overtaking and possessing of a wish discovers the folly of the chase." –William Congreve_

**SPOV**

I was never so glad that my friend Tara owned a boutique in my life. Right after work the day after Eric invited me to meet his parents at that formal event; I headed straight to Tara's store. I needed a dress. Nothing I had in my closet was black tie appropriate and I knew Tara would have what I needed. She was ready and waiting for me with possible options when I got there. God bless her for knowing my tastes and sizes before I even walked in the door.

"You are a lifesaver!" I hugged her when I walked in.

"Don't worry, honey, this is what I do. And I promise you, we will find something you adore." Tara said and led me toward the back of the store where she already had a fitting room all set up for me. "Now I've got a couple of different styles and colors in there for you to try on, so let's see what works and what doesn't."

I stepped into the changing room and got busy. Tara definitely had a wide array of dresses for me to choose from but the one that caught my eyes the most was a pretty peach colored dress that was almost backless and had a flowing silk-chiffon skirt. The bodice of the dress was slightly wrapped and it wasn't strapless, which I was thankful for. Wearing strapless dresses with boobs as big as mine was always like playing Russian roulette.

I decided I was going to save that dress for last and started with a mossy green silk dress that looked all kinds of wrong against my tan. Tara agreed and I moved on to a pale aqua dress that was pretty but wouldn't lay right on me. After that was a pink dress that felt more like a sausage casing than anything else and I wouldn't even leave the dressing room to show Tara what it looked like, it was that bad.

I tried on three other dresses, including an off-white one that looked a little too much like a wedding dress for me to keep it on very long. I could only imagine what Eric would think and seeing as how we'd just had the relationship status talk that formally made us boyfriend and girlfriend, it would probably be too much to show up in what could be mistaken for a wedding gown. I took a big fat pass on that dress, as pretty as it was.

Finally, I was down to just the peach dress. I took a deep breath and hoped it looked as good on me as it did on its padded hanger. As soon as I got the dress on, I knew I had a winner. I gasped as I turned from side to side, checking one angle after another.

"How's it going, Sook?" Tara called from the other side of the door.

"Tara, I think we have a winner!" I beamed into the mirror.

The dress fit me perfectly and set my tan off nicely. The color just complimented me, from my skin tone to my hair color and it even made my eyes look more turquoisey than usual. It was perfection and as soon as I opened the dressing room door to show Tara, I knew I was right.

"Oh Sookie!" Tara gushed, her smile as bright as mine. "That's the one!"

I nodded excitedly and hugged Tara again. I felt like I was seventeen and shopping for my prom dress. I tried to imagine what Eric's face would look like when he saw me and that only made the butterflies in my stomach feel more like Mothra.

In addition to the dress, we picked out a pair of goldish-peach, glittery, peep-toe pumps with a five inch heel I was going to have to practice walking in so I wouldn't kill myself. I was a sneakers or flip-flops kind of girl, so walking in heels didn't come naturally to me the way it did to lots of women. Then, of course, there was the lingerie. The dress had a built-in bra, thank God, because there was no way I could go braless. The girls were perky enough but it just would have felt tacky to me.

I refused to wear a thong no matter how elegant it might be. I'd worn one once and that was enough. There was nothing sexy about feeling like I had to dig out a wedgie every couple of seconds and I knew enough about Eric's tastes to know he didn't think much of them anyway. I found a pretty pair of lacy peach boyshorts and since the skirt flowed, I doubted anyone was going to be checking me for panty lines anyway.

While I was browsing the lingerie section, I started looking at chemises and other easy-to-lose sleepwear. When my eye caught a silky peach colored number trimmed with black lace, I knew I had another winner on my hands. The bust of it was this sheer black material with lace covering all the appropriate bits and the Eric in my mind was doing one of those wolf whistles at the idea of seeing me in it.

"That's pretty," Tara said from behind me when she was finished helping another customer. "It'll go nicely with your dress."

"That's what I was thinking," I found my size and pulled a hanger from the rack.

"So, are you going to tell me about this new guy in your life or do I have to guess?" Tara nudged me with her elbow.

I hadn't really talked too much about my relationship. I suppose that had more to do with the fact that up until the night before, I didn't really know where it was going and I didn't want to jinx it by speaking too soon. Or maybe I liked the idea of keeping him to myself, relatively speaking since Jason knew, for just a little while longer.

But now that I knew where we were going and that we were exclusive with each other, there didn't seem to be any reason to keep mum on the subject, so I started from the beginning and told Tara all about him. She listened while I talked; nodding in all the right places and asking all the questions I would expect a girlfriend to ask about the new man in my life.

"Sounds like a good guy, and you seem pretty happy. I haven't seen you light up like this in a while," Tara smiled at me.

"I like him a lot, Tara. Like, it's almost scary how much I like him." I admitted to her. "And the craziest thing? We haven't had sex yet. We've been dating for almost a month and the farthest he's gotten is third base and that was only once."

Tara giggled and said, "I can't believe you just used the term 'third base' like we're still sixteen."

"I know, but that's how I feel when I'm around him." I shrugged. I couldn't explain it.

"I think it's sweet that you're crazy about him. Lord knows you deserve it after the string of assholes you've dated." Tara shook her head.

String of assholes…there's a visual I was never going to be able to erase. Thanks, Tara.

"So what stopped you from letting him round home plate?" Tara asked as we made our way to the counter so I could pay for all of my purchases.

"We both sort of have a nasty habit of rushing into sexual relationships and I can't help but wonder if maybe that's why none of them ever worked out in the past. I've thought a lot about it and I've come to realization that I was always the one more invested in the relationship and I was using sex as a way to hold onto the guy I was with, meanwhile the guy didn't really see much reason to put in his share of effort because he was getting laid regularly. So I've been taking it slow with Eric to make sure we're on equal ground. If all he wanted was to fuck me, he would have left by now." I said as I pulled my credit card from my purse.

"Well congratulations on finding a winner," Tara winked at me and I winced when I saw the total. Even with my special friend discount, I was still paying a couple hundred dollars for one night's worth of clothing. And I was pretty sure those panties weren't going to survive the night.

"Thanks. You know we should get together for dinner one of these nights. I'll bring Eric along so you can meet him," I offered as I signed the receipt.

"Heck yes! Just call me and let me know what works for you." Tara gestured to a customer who was trying to get her attention. "It was good to see you, Sook."

"Yeah, you too." I hugged Tara and then picked up all of my bags and headed home.

**o.O.o.O.o**

Rather than having Eric come all the way out to Bon Temps to pick me up, I arranged to leave work an hour early on Friday. The event started at six and dinner was being served at seven. I tried not to let myself get too nervous over the whole meeting the parents thing but it was hard not to. I hadn't met a boyfriend's parents since I dated Bill, and his mother had always hated me for one reason or another. I think she saw me as some harlot stealing her baby boy away, or some such nonsense.

In the time since then, none of my other boyfriends ever seemed to consider the idea of introducing me to their parents. I was okay with that, for the most part, since I knew on some deeper level that the relationships weren't going to last so there wasn't much point. With Eric, however, I was nervous because for the first time I really cared about what his parents would think of me. I worried his mother would think I wasn't good enough, or that his father would think I was a pretty distraction but that was about it.

I wanted them to like me and I wanted Eric to be proud of me. Or at least proud to be with me. I didn't want to embarrass him or make him regret bringing me to meet his parents, especially at an event that was important to his father. My nerves were frazzled and I hoped a quick soak in the tub would help alleviate the stress. In addition to my anxiety over meeting Eric's parents, there was the sexual frustration that was starting to kick in.

I had intentionally not seen Eric since the morning after he invited me to the event with his parents. After having that sex talk, I was worried I'd end up jumping him and I didn't want the first time to happen that way. I wasn't usually such a gushy, romantic type but as it was with Eric in so many other ways, I wanted sex to be different with him too. I wanted the first time to mean something more than just a rush of hormones and loss of control. The easiest way to make sure that happened was to not see him.

Christ, if I didn't know any better I would think it was the day of my wedding. After my bath I rubbed myself down with a shimmering peach scented lotion and got to work on my hair. Getting it all pinned up and curled the way I wanted it was going to take a while but it would be worth it when I was finished. Eric's bathroom looked somewhat like a war room with all the makeup, hair stuff and bottles of lotion and perfume that were spread out all over the place.

Poor guy was being invaded.

When my hair was done I put my makeup on and wore what I usually did with the addition of a shimmery gold eye shadow and a hint of brown liner on my eyes. Black was always too harsh for my complexion, but brown did the trick. The extra bit of definition to my eyes made them pop and I already knew the color of my dress would enhance them as well. I stopped short of lip gloss, saving that for after I brushed my teeth.

I went into the bedroom and slipped on the pretty new panties I'd bought and tried not to get too attached to them on the chance they became spoils of Eric's inevitable victory. After that I put the dress on I went in search of the shoes. I'd looked a little ridiculous walking around my house in them while doing laundry and cooking dinner but at least they were a little broken in. I had no doubt my feet would be killing me well before the night was over though.

I heard the garage door going up downstairs and I sucked in a deep breath. A glance at the clock told me it was Eric and he was running late. God, men were lucky with how little time it took them to get ready. I'd been at it for almost two hours and all it would take Eric as fifteen minutes and that was if he took his time. I ran to the bathroom and took my shoes with me. He was going to have to shower in the guest bathroom down the hall since I didn't want him to see me until I was completely ready.

"Sookie, where are you?" He called out from the bedroom.

"I'm in the bathroom and you can't see me until I'm done!" I shouted back.

"Well can you hand me my shampoo then?" Eric asked through the door.

I reached behind the shower door and got him his razor, shampoo and his soap. Carefully, I walked over to the door and opened it just wide enough to put my arm through. The rest of me was hidden behind the door so he couldn't see me.

"No hello kiss?" he teased.

"Nope, now hurry up or we're going to be late." I warned and smiled when he kissed my hand.

"Guess that'll have to do for now."

"I'll owe you one, how's that?"

"Works for me. Carry on, dear."

**o.O.o.O.o**

"Sookie, come on, we're going to be late!" Eric called from the bedroom.

I took a deep breath and checked myself in the mirror. It was as good as it was going to get. My hair was pinned and curled perfectly, my makeup looked good and I was still in love with the dress. I slipped on the shoes and then unlocked the bathroom door. One more deep breath and I turned the knob to open the door. With my little purse clutched in my hand, I stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

Eric was in the process of tying his tie, and stopped when he caught my reflection in the mirror. He whistled. It wasn't quite the wolf whistle I had imagined but it was good enough. He spun around with a grin on his face.

"You look beautiful," he looked me up and down.

"Thank you," I blushed just a little, pleased that he liked what he saw. "You think this isn't too much?"

He shook his head slowly and gestured for me to turn around. When he saw how much of my back was exposed, he sucked in a breath and then growled just a little. "You realize it's going to be difficult not to throw you in the car the second the party's over, right?"

"I was hoping you'd say that," I said with a small laugh. "Just don't molest me on the dance floor."

"I can't make you that promise," his eyes were heated.

Dinner was going to be an exercise in torture.

A few minutes later we were in _my_ car since there was no way I was going to be able to get in and out of the Corvette in the dress I was wearing without tripping all over myself. Since Eric knew precisely where we were going, I let him drive. He smartly leaned down to push the driver's seat back before trying to get behind the wheel.

The drive to the college Eric's father taught at didn't take long and we ended up arriving at about ten after six. Along with quite a few other people, we walked hand in hand to the space where the event was being held. A regal looking blonde woman in a beautiful rose colored dress was making her way toward us and by the shape of her face; I knew she had to be Eric's mother. My grip on his hand tightened nervously and he whispered in my ear.

"Relax, you'll be fine." Yeah, easy for _him_ to say.

"There you are! Your father has been driving me crazy, going over his speech and making all these notes…" Mrs. Northman trailed off and her eyes drifted over to me. "You must be Sookie! Oh, I'm so happy to meet you."

Yep, she was hugging me. I tried not to be too stiff about it but I was scared shitless of saying something stupid or completely inappropriate. I hugged her back as best I could with one arm since my other hand refused to let go of Eric.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Northman. Eric has told me a lot about you," I smiled at her once we parted.

"I wish I could say the same but my son has been annoyingly silent. Come with me and we'll get drinks," Mrs. Northman took my hand and led me over to the bar, leaving Eric to stand alone and watch helplessly as I was being dragged away.

"I love your dress," I said as we approached the bar. Small talk was good, right? I just needed to keep taking deep breaths and not inhale my gin and tonic. I would not get smashed in front of Eric's parents the first time I met them.

"Thank you! I got it at this wonderful little boutique just outside of Ruston called Tara's Togs." Mrs. Northman told me and it was a good thing I wasn't drinking anything or I would have choked.

"My friend owns that shop. Tara and I grew up together," I explained and then gave my drink order.

"Really? I love that shop! Every time I go in there I find something I just have to have. Your friend has fantastic taste," Mrs. Northman complimented.

"I'll be sure to tell her you said so," I nodded and reached for the drink the bartender was handing me.

"And might I say," Mrs. Northman reached for her glass of wine. "That color is fantastic on you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Northman," I blushed slightly. "I got this at Tara's as well."

"I thought I'd seen that dress somewhere before! And please call me Della. Anytime someone calls me Mrs. Northman I start looking for my mother-in-law and she passed three years ago," she told me before looping her slender arm through mine and leading me toward the table where Eric and the man I assumed was his father were sitting. "Now Sookie isn't a common name, is it?"

"Uh, it's a fairly common shortening in the south. My given name is Susannah but no one ever calls me that." I explained to her.

"Well, you're the first Sookie I've ever met. Any that come along in the future are going to have a high standard to meet," Della patted my hand as we walked and I know I blushed under her high praise.

Either she'd already had a few glasses of wine or she was easily impressed because I couldn't think of a single thing I'd done to make her like me. Maybe just being respectful and polite was good enough for her. Whatever the reason, I was glad she wasn't giving me the evil eye the way Bill's mother always had.

"How's the speech coming along?" Della asked after taking her seat beside her husband.

"Fine, fine. Eric helped get the words in their proper order," Mr. Northman said without looking up.

"Martin, darling, you should meet Eric's Sookie," Della took the pen from her husband's hand and he looked up at me.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," I offered my hand and he shook it.

"Likewise. I apologize for my rudeness. I'm a bit ruffled at the moment," he said and it was a comfort to know I wasn't the only one who was nervous.

Eric pulled my chair out for me and I took a seat next to him. His hand found mine under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Martin went back to obsessing over his speech while Della started asking questions about how Eric and I met. It was the normal sort of stuff I would expect a parent to ask the significant other of their child. She asked about my family and where I'd grown up, then about college and what I did for a living. It was nice. It was normal.

It wasn't torture after all.

After a couple of vodka gimlets, Martin was a little more relaxed and stopped obsessing over his speech. Both of Eric's parents were extremely friendly and polite people. Their intelligence was apparent in the way they spoke and when Martin slipped into speaking Swedish, his wife gently reminded him that I wasn't able to follow along. I wondered if that was a common thing and decided I would ask Eric about it later. Maybe it was something Martin did when he was nervous, like how I would bite my lip or play with my hair, neither of which I had done since we sat down at the table.

Dinner was amazing. The salad they served was an ordinary garden salad. After that we had a light cucumber soup Eric didn't seem to care for very much, but I thought it was delicious. After that we had a Grecian style chicken with roasted rosemary potatoes and roasted vegetables that were served family style, which I wasn't expecting. Dessert was a light lemon sorbet that was a nice finish to a great dinner. I was glad they hadn't trotted out heavy pieces of cake or pie. I wouldn't have had room for that.

"Well I'm full until Thanksgiving," Della sat back in her chair after taking just a few bites of her sorbet.

"Me too," I pushed my plate away and wasn't the least bit surprised when Eric confiscated it. That man could eat more in a day that I could in a week.

"I don't know where he puts all of it," Della said with a shake of her head as she watched Eric eat. "And it was worse when he was a teenager!"

"He gets it from me," Martin spoke up and I didn't doubt that was the truth.

Both of Eric's parents were tall. I knew Della was wearing heels but even without them she had to be at least 5'9" and since Eric and his father were about eye to eye in their seats, I was assuming they were the same height. Granted it took more calories to fuel a body as big as Eric's, but Jesus; I couldn't imagine eating as much as he did most days.

A short time later it was time to get down to business. It was sort of adorable to see Martin's hands shake with nervousness while he waited to be called up to the stage to receive his award. He was being honored for his service to the college, as well as the number of papers he'd written that had been published in that time. His work had helped to make the college one of the leading schools with history programs not just in the state of Louisiana, but in the country. That was certainly impressive.

"Don't worry, Pop, you'll be fine," Eric said with a gentle knock against his father's shoulder.

Martin grumbled under his breath but it seemed to be a squeeze from his wife and a few quiet words in what I assumed to be Swedish that got him to settle down. It was sweet to watch and Eric squeezing my hand under the table told me he might have been as touched by the little display as I was. I always thought it was sweet when couples who had been married for as long as the Northmans had still seemed to love each other as much as Eric's parents seemed to. Just because a couple remained married for a long time didn't mean they were happy. It was obvious to me that Martin and Della weren't putting on airs.

Finally, Martin was called to the stage after a short introduction by the head of his department and I let go of Eric's hand long enough to applaud the nervous man who was slowly rising to his impressive full height. "Knock 'em dead, Pop." Eric said as Martin stood.

Della stood along with her husband and kissed his cheek before sending him toward the stage. As he walked, he dug the notes he'd been scribbling on from his inner jacket pocket. He climbed the steps and as soon as he was standing at the podium, all traces of nervousness were gone. He'd slipped into professor mode and exuded confidence and grace. Della sat down in Martin's chair and leaned over toward Eric and me.

"God, I love that man," she smiled with pride as we all watched Martin speak.

* * *

><p><strong>So now we've met Mama and Papa Northman. We'll get to see more of Martin's personality in the next chapter, and especially in the coming ones. Eric's parents are a hoot. Some awesome sets were made for me in Polyvore, so if you want to see what Sookie was wearing for this function, there will be a link to it in my profile. Reviews= love &amp; teasers. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	9. Wonderful Tonight

Chapter 9: Wonderful Tonight

"_We go to a party and everyone turns to see this beautiful lady who's walking around with me. And then she asks, 'Do you feel alright?' and I say, 'Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.'" –Eric Clapton_

**EPOV**

She smelled like peaches, which was fitting considering the dress she was wearing. Sookie was easily the most beautiful woman in the room. I held her close to me, the warmth of her skin radiating through the thin material of her dress, as we swayed to the music that was playing. Her head rested lightly against my chest as we moved, and I tried not to think about how much longer we were going to be stuck at the college because all I wanted right about then was to get her home.

We had plans, after all. Our own little after party was scheduled to kick off the second we left the college and the longer I held her, the harder it was not to fake a stomachache as an excuse to leave early. Across the floor, my parents were dancing as well. It was easy to spot the comfort level between them. It was obvious they had danced many dances together and I found myself wondering if there was a chance that could be Sookie and me in thirty years.

Whoa. Thoughts of the future. There's something I didn't usually do. But it wasn't scary. Like every other wall of mine Sookie seemed to come busting through, I wasn't frightened by this invasion either. In fact, I liked the idea of her still being around in thirty years. My arm tightened around her waist like I was afraid she was going to float away if I wasn't careful. Her head lifted and she looked up at me.

"I'm glad you asked me to come with you tonight. Your parents are wonderful and it's easy to see why you are they way you are," Sookie stretched up and kissed me softly.

I had no words so I just kissed her back. Sometimes that was better than trying to find words anyway. A clearing throat and a tap on my shoulder broke up the kiss I was so thoroughly enjoying and when Sookie and I both turned to see my parents smiling back at us, she quickly looked away with a hint of blush creeping up her neck. Her modesty was adorable.

"Switch with me. Legs Mahoney over here is all feet tonight," Mom jerked her thumb at Dad and for the first time it hit me that Sookie had the same sass as my mother.

"Oh good! Maybe Martin can get some feeling back into my feet," Sookie grinned and kissed my cheek before ditching me for my father.

"She's a keeper, Eric. So help me God if you screw this up, I'll disown you," Mom threatened as we started dancing.

Sookie had definitely won Mom over. After all the presentations were finished, the two of them got into a discussion about feminism in Jane Austen novels. They both swooned over Mr. Darcy while Dad and I just exchanged shrugs and started talking about sports. The fact that Sookie could keep up with my mother was a huge deal, and it was what won her my mother's respect.

"Don't worry, Mom, I'm behaving myself." I promised her and I was.

"Good, because Sookie is a sweet girl and as much as I love you, my son, I'd kick your ass if you broke her heart because you were being thoughtless." Mom patted my shoulder.

The sound of Sookie's laugh drew my attention her way. I had no idea what had been said to make her laugh but the fact that Dad was laughing as well was a good sign. I couldn't take my eyes off of Sookie. Everything about her was so lit up. From the color of her dress, to the shimmer of her skin, the sparkle of the gold jewelry she was wearing and the twinkle in her eyes—all of it screamed of lightness. That was when it hit me; the thing I had been trying to figure out about her that I'd been so drawn to; it was her light.

"I think I'm in love with her, Mom," I confessed quietly, knowing my mother was the only person I could have said that to without feeling incredibly awkward about it.

"Well duh," Mom chortled and my head whipped around to face her. "I could have told you that. The second you looked at her picture on your phone, I knew you were gone. And after meeting her, I know you never had a chance."

I knew I liked her a lot and from the moment I'd set eyes on Sookie, I'd felt something different inside me than I had with any other girl in the past. But love? I had refused to believe it was possible to love someone before I even knew their name. Yet, with Sookie, that seemed entirely possible. You could have knocked me flat on my ass with a slight breeze when I put those pieces of the puzzle together.

"You don't think it's too fast?" I was staring at Sookie again, but talking to my mother.

"To paraphrase Jane Austen: intimacy isn't something that can be determined by time. For some it happens in days and for others it takes years. Whether it was overnight, or took all this time for you to feel it, you feel what you feel, and that's all that matters." Mom rubbed my shoulder. "Don't be afraid to tell her how you feel, sweetheart. It's always better to say what's in your heart than wait for a moment that may never come."

"How long were you and Dad together before he told you he loved you?" I asked her since I hadn't the slightest clue. I didn't usually ask too many questions about my parents' relationship.

"Four days," Mom said and I froze.

"Seriously?"

Mom laughed and nodded. "Eric, you know your father! He never does anything half way and we both know you get your obsessive-compulsive tendencies from him. I tend to think he was just infatuated but he swears up and down it was love. Who am I to argue?"

"Even for the Old Man that's fast." I snickered.

"He's impulsive and yet guarded where his heart is concerned; he always has been. You get that from him, too." Mom leaned in and kissed my cheek as the song ended. "Why don't you go get Sookie and spend the rest of the evening together?"

"No, Mom, we don't have to do that." I shook my head, but appreciated her offer.

"Nonsense! You came for dinner, brought Sookie with you and stayed for your father's speech. You did your duty. Now go do your girlfriend," Mom pushed me toward Sookie.

My mother was the queen of shock value sometimes and I swear she intentionally said things she knew I would find funny in a highly disturbing sort of way. All the same I could see she wouldn't be taking no for an answer, which told me where I'd gotten my determination from, and I headed over toward Dad and Sookie.

"Mom has told me in the politest of ways that it's time for Sookie and me to get out," I told Dad as I took Sookie's hand.

Both Sookie and Dad looked over at Mom who just shrugged like she had no idea what she was being gawked at for. Of course she would do that. I rolled my eyes and she winked at Dad. Dad chuckled, apparently in-tune enough with my mother to know exactly what she was saying. Then the horrible thought that maybe she wanted us to leave so she and Dad could go home crossed my mind. I did _not_ need an image of my parents having sex floating around in my head. Not now, not ever.

The three of us headed for the table we'd been sitting at for dinner so Sookie could collect her bag and Mom met us there. After inviting Sookie over for brunch on Sunday, we all exchanged hugs and kisses goodbye.

"It was so wonderful to meet you, Sookie. Thank you for coming tonight," Mom said as she hugged Sookie.

"You're so welcome. Thank you for including me," Sookie answered as she squeezed my mother like they were old friends.

"Keep an eye on that one for me," Dad nodded in my direction as he kissed Sookie's cheek. "And if he gives you any trouble, you let me know."

"Yessir, I will," Sookie promised and waved to my parents as we turned to walk out.

"And to think, you were nervous," I teased as we left.

"I know, I know, but I really wanted them to like me," Sookie squeezed my hand.

"I would have to say that's a mission accomplished," I kissed the top of her head. I couldn't wait to get home.

**o.O.o.O.o**

The ride back to my house was filled with the slow twang of country music. Sookie was absently drawing little hearts on my hand as she stared out the window at the passing landscape. It was just shy of eleven by the time I pulled into the driveway. She waited patiently in the passenger's seat while I went around to open her door for her. We walked hand in hand to the front door and the second we were inside; she kicked off her shoes and sighed with relief.

"Feet hurt?" I smiled down at her while she pouted and nodded.

"Whoever invented high heels is pure evil," she braced herself against me while lifting a foot to rub it.

"Well then allow me," I scooped her up before she could argue with me.

"Eric!" She laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I had fun tonight. Thank you for inviting me."

"Thank you for coming," I answered and then kissed her.

Since it was a night for revelations, the thought that I never wanted to kiss anyone but Sookie for the rest of my life crossed my mind. Shock of all shocks, I didn't try to kick it back out. In fact, the thought seemed to fit right in with my earlier revelations about the way I felt about her. I set her down because I had to. I didn't want to be looking at her at some awkward angle when I said what I needed to say.

I felt absolutely no reservations about telling her I loved her. It felt like the right thing to do and a part of me thought maybe that was what she had been waiting for. If it were anyone else, I would think it was manipulation but I didn't feel that way with Sookie. She was waiting for something better to come into her life, something that meant more to her. I hadn't known it when I met her, but I had been waiting for the same exact thing. I felt incredibly lucky to have found it.

Sookie whimpered when I set her down and the pout on her face was comical and adorable at the same time. "Stupid feet," she muttered.

I got lost looking at her and it wasn't until she turned to go upstairs that I remembered I had things I wanted to say. I caught her hand and she turned on the steps so we were eye to eye. That was much better than the way we'd been a few seconds before.

"Something wrong?" she asked with a nervous smile.

"No, no, nothing's wrong, but there's something I want to tell you," I laced my fingers with hers.

"Okay," she squeezed my hand.

"Since the minute I saw you, there was something about you that was pulling me toward you. I didn't know what it was and I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure it out. Then tonight, I saw you from across the room and you looked like sunshine." I told her and watched as her smile grew and her eyes filled with tears.

"Aww, Eric, that's sweet of you," her voice was soft and full of emotion.

"There's more," I stepped closer to the stairs. "Do you remember at the wedding when you caught me staring at your ass?" Sookie burst out laughing and nodded at the memory. "What you said to me after that completely caught me off guard and you've been surprising me with one thing or another ever since. At the risk of sounding completely cheesy, I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm glad I found you."

"Eric," her voice cracked when she said my name and a tear rolled down her cheek. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"And I mean it, every word. There's something else you should know," I reached up to touch her cheek. I took a deep breath and blew it out. I'd never said what I was about to say to anyone else. This was a huge moment in my life and I was glad it was with Sookie. "While I was watching you tonight I realized a lot of things but the most important is that I love you."

Her mouth dropped open and for once, it seemed I'd managed to catch her as completely off guard as she normally was catching me. Her mouth closed and opened a few more times while she considered what she wanted to say. I wasn't expecting her to tell me she loved me back. I wouldn't argue with her if she did but I hadn't said it just to hear it back. Like anyone else, I wanted to hear it when it was true and not just to pacify me, or make me feel like I wasn't out there alone on that ledge.

"I don't know what to say," she finally admitted with that nervous laugh of hers. "I uh…I wasn't expecting you to say that. Any of it."

"Sookie, you don't have to say it back just because you feel like you should. I just wanted you to know how I feel." I wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

"No, I know you're not, and I would never say it just because that's the stock response when someone tells you they love you. I could say it right now but it wouldn't mean what it should and I want it to mean everything." Sookie put her hand on mine and moved it over so she could kiss my palm. "I really, really wish I could say it back right now but I'm just not there yet."

"It's okay," I smiled at her and just so she knew I was being straight with her, I leaned in and kissed her with everything I had and I knew she was doing the same.

Getting up the stairs without breaking the kiss was a challenge but we managed. The jacket of my suit was the first thing to go and it landed unceremoniously on the floor in a heap. It was tempting to just rip my shirt open instead of letting Sookie unbutton it one button at a time, but there was time for that later. For now, I'd let her have things her way.

I couldn't believe I'd told her I loved her without choking on the words. Then again I'd never even had the inclination to say it to anyone else; it just never crossed my mind. With Sookie, I couldn't wait to purge the words. I wasn't afraid of telling her how I felt. That, in and of itself, was a small miracle. And I was glad she trusted me enough to be honest with me instead of saying it back just because she could. I was glad she wanted the words to mean as much to her as they did to me.

"Wait," Sookie said suddenly as I was unzipping her dress. My hands dropped immediately and Sookie backed away from me just a step. "Give me a minute. I'll be right back."

Before I could say anything else, she was grabbing her bag and hauling ass toward the bathroom. The door slammed shut and I stood around my bedroom like a tool, unsure of what to do with myself. I had no idea what she was doing in the bathroom or how long she was going to be. Was I on temporary hold, or what?

Either way, the bed was about to be used so I went over to it and pulled the comforter back to the foot of the mattress. I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my socks. I sat on the edge of the bed in my dress pants and waited. If I had been thinking a little more clearly about the whole thing, I would have bought candles or something like that.

Then I remembered I had an emergency stash downstairs in case I lost power. They didn't smell like anything but that wasn't really important. I ran downstairs and grabbed them from their hiding place in the cabinet beside the fireplace. I grabbed the barbecue lighter as well and ran back upstairs. I set the little tea lights in various places around the room and lit them one by one until there was a flickering glow in the room. Not bad for a last minute effort, if I did say so myself.

I stretched out on the bed and closed my eyes while I waited for Sookie. I tried to imagine what she might be doing in there but none of the sounds I heard coming from the bathroom gave me a hint. I wasn't usually so impatient but after fifteen minutes went by, I was starting to think maybe she'd changed her mind about the whole thing and was planning her escape. Maybe I'd spoken too quickly about the whole love thing.

Just as I was convincing myself that I had completely fucked up, the bathroom door opened, as did my eyes. Sookie stood in the doorway dressed in a silky nightgown type thing that had black lace on it in all the right places. The nightgown was the same color as the dress she had been wearing. She'd taken all the pins out of her hair, leaving it hanging down her back in soft curls and she'd washed her makeup off. Funny, I hadn't even heard the water running.

"Wow." It was the most intelligent thing I could think of to say.

"I don't look ridiculous?" She asked nervously as she started walking toward the bed.

"Uh, no, definitely not ridiculous. Beautiful, mouth watering, sexy as hell…those would be the words I'd use." I said and noticed her hands were shaking just a little bit.

For the first time I considered the possibility she could be a virgin. She'd told me she rushed into relationships in the past but she'd never said if they were sexual relationships or not. Maybe she'd been the kind of girl who talked herself into thinking she was in love with the guy she was seeing. That would certainly explain why she was taking things slowly with me.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous. This is a big deal and it's been a while since I last…" she trailed off and chewed her lip instead.

I sat up and moved to the edge of the bed to pull her closer to me. She stood between my knees and with my hands on her hips; I realized it wasn't just her hands that were shaking. This wouldn't do. She needed to mellow out or this wasn't going to be any fun for either of us.

"Are you a virgin?" I asked her and she laughed, actually laughed.

"Uh, no, not for a long time now." She admitted but couldn't seem to look me in the eyes. "It's just been a while since the last time I had sex, and it's you and you love me and the last guy I slept with definitely didn't love me so I guess I'm just worried you're going to be disappointed, or something."

"Hey," I grabbed her a little tighter when she tried to pull away after she stopped her nervous rambling. "Sookie, look at me."

She fought it for a second but when I wouldn't let her go; she shifted her eyes to mine. "I'm sorry. I'm a mess right now."

I pulled her down so she was sitting on my knee. "If you aren't sure about this, we don't have to do it."

"No, I'm sure; I'm just nervous."

"Okay, so then one step at a time. And the first thing I think we need to do is work on those sore feet of yours," I said and scooped her up to lay her out on the bed. "Wait here," I said and then went to the bathroom to get lotion.

* * *

><p><strong>Yep, I'm totally cutting you off right there. Evil, I know. I can hear you all hissing at me. The good news is the next chapter is pretty much one big lemon. So you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for that tasty treat. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter even without the sexing. Reviews= love &amp; a teaser that'll make your lips pucker! <strong>


	10. When You Got A Good Thing

**WARNING: This chapter is mostly NSFW, so if you're in an office environment, you might want to save this for later :)**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 10: When You Got a Good Thing<span>

"_Kissing - and I mean like, yummy, smacking kissing - is the most delicious, most beautiful and passionate thing that two people can do, bar none. Better than sex, hands down." –Drew Barrymore_

**SPOV**

He loved me. Eric loved me. The last guy I dated who said that to me was Bill, and even he hadn't said it since we were in high school. God, when I thought of all the relationships I'd been in since then and all the mistakes I'd made to try and keep them together when the guy I was dating just didn't deserve it… And here's Eric who _loves me_, and I'm freaking the fuck out like I've never had sex before.

But this time it means something to me and because he loves me, it'll mean something to Eric as well. The fact that he was going out of his way to make sure I was okay and comfortable with everything only made me feel guiltier for not being able to tell him I loved him back. Yes, I could have forced the words out but I wouldn't do that to him, nor would I do it to myself. I'd done that in the past and it was like faking an emotional orgasm. Not cool at all and definitely not satisfying.

The fact that I could express myself and not be worried that Eric was going to think I was some kind of freak made things so much easier. I knew he'd made his share of mistakes in the past where relationships were concerned and he never once tried to hide the fact that he wasn't all that emotionally involved with the women he spent time with. I reserved judgment on that because I really wasn't in any kind of position to say whether he was right or wrong for what he'd done.

Truthfully, the way he was with other girls fit my pattern of behavior exactly. No doubt I would have ended up crazy about him no matter how he treated me and I would have stuck around because… well, I'm not sure why I stayed with any of those guys. Maybe I didn't want to be alone, or maybe I was hoping they would change if I gave them time. Whatever the reason, I probably would have done the same thing with Eric. I definitely didn't go into our first date thinking I would fall in love with him, or that he would fall in love with me.

But I had hoped for it. Now I had what I wanted and I was panicking. I didn't really know what to do with a guy who loved me. I was so used to relationships being fucked up and one sided. Giving equal parts was a new territory for me and at the moment, the scales seemed to be tilted a little in Eric's favor since he'd reached the love finish line before me. But did that matter?

I decided that it didn't. It would matter if I knew in my heart there was no way I would ever love him but that wasn't the case. It was so close I could practically taste it but it just wasn't there yet. In the meantime, Eric seemed hell bent on showing me that he loved me and he was doing a damn good job of it.

What started out as a really nice foot massage to soothe my aching feet turned into a calf massage and Eric just kept on working his way up from there. He skipped my girly parts which was good because if he had started with all that, I would have missed out on the back massage that nearly put me to sleep, I got so relaxed. We talked quietly while he rubbed more of that peach scented lotion into my skin and by the time he was done with me I probably looked like a supernova lying there on his bed with all the shimmer on my skin. Thankfully, the parts that he was most likely to lick hadn't been rubbed down with the lotion.

When he came back from the bathroom after washing his hands, I pulled him down next to me on the bed. He had succeeded in his task to relax me and I wanted to repay his kindness. And from a guy's perspective, what could possibly say thank you better than a blowjob? But I knew we had to build up to that. Although I'm sure he wouldn't have fought me on it too hard if I had just yanked his pants off and got busy.

However, that probably would have wrecked the mood Eric had worked so hard to cultivate. Whether he was doing it for me or because he was a romantic at heart I couldn't be sure, but I wasn't going to ruin it. There would be plenty of time for sneak attacks and fucking into the mattress later. For the time being, I was content to stay the slow and sweet course he'd plotted out.

That meant the logical place to start was with kissing, so I pulled him closer and whispered, "Thank you. That was exactly what I needed."

"No more nerves?" His fingers ghosted up my arm.

"Only in a good way, I promise. I'm all tingly." I smiled at him and then kissed him.

He pulled back and said, "From now on the only time I want to see you shake is when you're coming."

I would have gasped but his lips attacked mine, stealing anything I might have tried to say. The kisses were deep, wet and full of emotion and didn't stay just on my mouth. He moved around, making sure everything north of my shoulders was in on the action. Damn, he was good.

I'd spent enough time kissing Eric in the last three weeks to wonder if it was possible to become addicted to kissing someone. Kissing had made me late for work at least twice but it was so worth it. Eric began to work the straps of my chemise down my shoulders and I was glad he didn't just rip them out of the way. I could only hope my panties would be just as lucky.

I eased my arms out of the straps, wiggling and twisted a little under Eric to accomplish the feat. I already knew from several topless make out sessions that he was a boob man and I had plenty to keep his hands and mouth occupied for a while. He wasted no time getting reacquainted with his old friends, and they weren't disappointed with the reunion either.

We ended up rolling over and with Eric occupied by my breasts in his face, my hand drifted down to get his pants open. I had thought he was exaggerating when he talked about ten inches the first time he slept over but that was no joke, as I'd found out the week before when making out turned into a handjob on my couch. Assuming I was measuring properly by sight, Eric wasn't exaggerating at all. I wasn't the least big surprised when I lowered the zipper on his pants and his cock jumped out like it was spring loaded.

He groaned when I wrapped my hand around him and the vibration of the groan against my skin sent shivers through me and I moaned right back. I started to stroke him and replaced my breasts with my lips on his. I loved kisses that were passionate and bordering on sloppy because I got so lost in them. Lucky for me, Eric was more than willing to give me what I wanted. His hands moved down to my thighs and then up under the chemise that was pooled at my waist.

Before he could get too friendly with me I loved my kisses down his neck to his chest, giving his nipples the same treatment he'd given mine. I threw in a couple of gentle bites because that was a big turn-on for Eric. My hand found a rhythm and his hips were thrusting up a little with each stroke. My mouth moved farther down his torso, my teeth dragging along the warm skin of his abs. I shifted my position just a little on the bed and kissed my way down his flaxen happy trail.

Eric's hands slipped into my hair, holding it back from my face so my eyes wouldn't be obstructed. Eye contact was an even bigger turn-on than the biting, as far as he was concerned. So I kept my eyes on his while I took that first long lick up his shaft from base to tip. The resulting eye roll was encouraging, so I repeated my actions. I was experienced enough to know there was no way in hell I could get all of him in my mouth so I wasn't even going to try. I did the best I could and let my hands do the rest. They twisted on the upstroke while I swirled my tongue as I went down and the combination had Eric's hips thrusting up again.

"Sookie, you have to…" his sentence died when one of my hands moved to give his balls a gentle squeeze. "Holy fuck!" He shouted and that was all the warning I got before he released in my mouth.

I kept on stroking and sucking until he stopped shuddering and had started to go soft. He relaxed his grip on my hair and pulled me up the length of his body. Unlike most guys, he didn't hesitate to kiss me. My thighs rubbed together in search of some much needed friction. My panties must have been soaked by then.

"Jesus, woman, are you trying to kill me?" Eric panted with me resting on top of him.

"Nope, that was a thank you," I smirked down at him.

"Well fuck," he groaned and then pulled my chemise up over my head.

I was on my back two seconds later and Eric was ditching his pants, leaving me in just my panties, which were peeled off (they survived!) as soon as his pants were gone. I giggled when the little bit of scruff on his chin tickled the inside of my leg while he was taking his sweet time kissing his way up it. There was a part of me that wanted to tell him to get a move on and that we'd fooled around enough.

Unfortunately, I'd incapacitated him for at least a few more minutes so I was just going to have to grin and bear it. Poor me, I know. When he got where he wanted to be, and where I _needed_ him to be, I heard him mumble something in what I assumed was Swedish since I couldn't understand it.

"Jag har drömt om detta," he looked up at me with a smile on his face. I considered asking him what he was saying but I decided I didn't want to know. Whatever it was, it was likely to make me blush a hundred shades of red and I was flushed enough already.

Eric continued to move slowly, kissing and licking gently, but avoiding what I had come to affectionately refer to as my 'easy button.' All the gel in his hair made it difficult to run my fingers through it like I wanted to but that was a small setback. When his tongue finally flicked against my clit, my hips lifted off the bed. Eric's arms ended up under my thighs with his hands circling around so he could hold me in place.

_Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts_. I even heard a little dinging noise in my head like I would if I were on an airplane.

Now it might be bad form to think about other people you've had sex with while you're with someone else, but I couldn't help wondering how I'd ever gotten off on what some of my ex-boyfriends had called oral sex, considering the way my body responded to Eric. Maybe it was different with him because I genuinely cared and it wasn't forced feelings, hoping that if I told myself often enough, it would actually become the truth. With Eric, there was no faking whatsoever. And it probably helped that I trusted him enough to let myself go.

So that's what I did. I let my mind go completely blank and just focused on the feelings that were racing through me. I tried to keep my eyes on his but I was dangerously close to being on overload. I shifted my hands to grasp the sheets when I was afraid I was going to start pulling handfuls of his pretty hair out. That wouldn't be good.

How he managed to keep me on edge for so long, I'll never know. But then when his fingers slid inside me like they belonged there, I felt myself starting to tumble over. Thank God I was already lying down or I would have fallen over. My hips wouldn't stop moving to try and get more of him and I could feel the waves starting all the way down in my toes. I was sucking in air between gasps of his name and praying my heart didn't beat right out of my chest.

When his fingers found a spot inside me I didn't even know existed, I was done. "Eric!" I screamed as the big wave hit and my grasp on the sheets was so violent I could feel my nails digging into my palms, but he didn't stop there. He kept right on going.

I was still shaking from the first orgasm when the second one was starting to build. I braced myself for the impact of it, his name tumbling from my lips over and over again and the growling sounds he made did wonderful things to my easy button as his fingers stroked against that magic spot again. I screamed when I came the second time.

For a minute, I thought I had to be dead from the bright light that exploded behind my eyes. Yep, I was definitely going into the light. When my eyes opened it was because Eric had reached into his nightstand for a condom and I could hear the tearing of the little foil packet. My heart was still going a million beats a minute and my vision was a little blurred, although whether it was from pleasure or what might have been tears, I'm not sure.

Eric flopped onto his back while he put the condom on and once it was in place, I forced my body up on top of his. My muscles weren't working properly at that point, thanks to the massage paired with the orgasms, but I was going to have to make it work. I straddled his waist and bent down to kiss him. A few sloppy kisses later, he was lifting my hips and positioning me just right.

I gasped when I started to sink down on him. Jesus he was big.

"Are you okay?" He asked sweetly when I had to stop.

I nodded and said, "You're big."

He grinned and said, "I wasn't lying when I said I'd show you ten inches."

His hand moved and rubbed my clit, which miraculously seemed to give me a shot of energy. I knew I wasn't going to be able to fit all of him inside me; I simply wasn't big enough, but I was going to give it my best shot. I took my time, moving slowly and giving my body time to stretch. Seven months without sex had definitely tightened things up again and the last guy I'd slept with definitely wasn't as big as Eric.

He didn't try to hurry me along, although I could tell he was straining to keep control of himself. With his hands firmly grasping my hips and my hands braced on his chest, I started to slowly rise and fall on top of him. Our eyes met and it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Shit, was I one of those girls who was going to think she fell in love while having sex? Okay, so I had been like, ninety percent there already so it wasn't like I went from zero to sixty, but still…

"Still okay?" Eric asked me as I moved.

I answered him with a kiss because I was afraid if I opened my mouth those three little words I couldn't have said before would come tumbling out and I didn't want him to think I was saying it just because it was the heat of the moment. I would tell him later when our bodies and hormones weren't in such an uproar and we were both thinking with clearer heads. If he could feel my turmoil in the kiss, he said nothing of it and I was thankful for it. It wasn't the time for a conversation.

A short time later we rolled over carefully and my legs circled lazily around the back of Eric's legs. He moved slowly, like he was trying to savor what was happening between us. Oh the differences between making love and fucking someone were starting to become very apparent to me and it made me just a little sad to think I'd never experienced something like this in my other relationships. But then I chased that thought away and replaced it with how happy I was that I was still able to have a first time, of sorts, with Eric. He deserved that much.

No, _we_ deserved that much.

Eric buried his face in the crook of my neck and my hands grasped his shoulders, digging in just a little, holding him close to me. He nibbled my ear for a few seconds before I heard him whisper, "I love you."

I bit my lip to keep from crying. No one had ever said that to me during sex before and the stabbing ache in my chest told me just how sad that really was. It also told me that I really did love him back. Dammit, why didn't I know this an hour ago?

My hips rose to meet his with every thrust and when he started to move a little faster, I knew he was close. To make sure we finished together, his hand moved between us. His lips grazed against mine and our eyes met. He kissed me softly and said, "Come with me."

I think I died again right there but somehow managed to nod my head. His thumb moved over my clit while his thrusts got just a little harder. As those waves started up from my toes again, my fingers dug into his back. I'd probably end up leaving little crescent shaped marks on him but I sincerely doubted he would care. Hell, he'd probably consider them a badge of honor.

"Oh Jesus," I breathed against his neck, our bodies moving faster and faster in search of release. "Eric, I'm so close."

A string of Swedish curse words (at least that's what they sounded like to me) left Eric's mouth and then he shouted with his own climax. I followed right behind him, my inner muscles gripping him tightly, trying desperately to keep him inside me. My nails scratched his back and I could only hope I didn't draw blood. His body dropped on top of mine and it was the most delicious thing I'd ever felt in my life. I could feel the pounding of his heart against my skin and the lazy kisses he planted all over me while he tried to get himself together were matched by my own.

Eric shifted off of me to get rid of the condom but when he came back to bed just a few seconds later, he lay down next to me and parked his head on my chest just under my left breast. I really wanted to play with his hair the way he'd done with mine so many times but I settled for running my fingers up and down the back of his neck instead. His arm draped around my bare skin and he pressed little kisses against me every couple of seconds. We didn't talk for a while and I was okay with that.

"Thank you," I finally whispered and looked down to check his back and make sure I hadn't done any permanent damage.

"For what?" Eric whispered back and kissed my breast.

"I've never felt anything like that before, Eric. We haven't really talked too much in depth about our other relationships and I don't want to ruin this by doing that now, but I just want you to know I've never been with anyone like you." I rubbed his back.

Eric shifted up so we were face to face and sharing a pillow. "I've never been with anyone like you before either, so that makes us even. And if I'm being honest, it never mattered to me until I met you if the girl I was with gave a shit. I was selfish and pretty shallow. I always took more than I gave."

"Well, that's definitely not the case here," I smiled at him and he smiled back.

His hand reached for mine and after kissing the back of it, he settled our hands between us so I could once again feel his heart beating into my skin. My eyes closed with the intention of just concentrating on what I was feeling, but I must have gotten a little too comfortable because I ended up falling asleep.

When my eyes opened some time later, the candles had all burned out and Eric was on top of me again. I gave him a sleepy smile and tried to get my lips to answer the kiss he laid on me. Since I wasn't quite awake yet, I mostly felt like I was floating outside of my own body. His fingers moved between my legs, waking me up in the nicest way possible.

He must have put a condom on before he decided to wake me up because just when I was about to fall over the edge again, he replaced his fingers with his cock and my walls immediately clamped down on him. He grunted at the tight squeeze he was getting and didn't start to thrust inside me until my muscles were fluttering instead of gripping him.

"Mmmm harder," I moaned, no longer feeling the need for slow and sweet.

Eric got up on his knees and lifted my hips to give me what I wanted. My fingers dug into his forearms and my eyes rolled back into my head when he shifted my hips just a little to hit that magic spot inside me. I cried out and begged him to go deeper inside me. I was so close to coming that I didn't care if it would leave me sore in the morning.

"More," I moaned and sobbed with relief when my body exploded around his.

My orgasm must have triggered his because he came seconds later, panting and shuddering above me. I hadn't even realized he'd shifted positions again. As it was before, he shifted over just long enough to get rid of the used condom before wrapping himself around me.

"Should I be expecting you to wake me up like that often from now on?" I giggled and then gasped when his hand lodged itself between my thighs. Apparently he wasn't quite done with me yet.

"That, my lover, was just one of a million ways I can think of to wake you," he nipped at my neck while his fingers moved expertly further down my body.

I was a lucky, lucky girl.

* * *

><p><strong>Jag har drömt om detta- <strong>I have dreamed of this.

**Sooooo there we have it. Lemons _and_ Sookie has realized she is, in fact, in love with Eric. You know what they say about timing being everything... that's really going to come into play in a couple of chapters. I'm warning my angst babies right now that there's going to be some trouble up ahead but I promise you it's not relationship angst. If you're an angst baby, you should still brace yourself though lol. Reviews= love & teasers. Thanks for reading!**


	11. I Got Mine

Chapter 11: I Got Mine

"_So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day." –The Notebook_

**EPOV**

I woke up Sunday morning with Sookie asleep on my back. I had no idea how she got there but ask me if I cared. We'd spent most of Saturday in bed, or at least fucking our way around the house. We got up mostly for food or to go to the bathroom. Muscles were sore that I didn't know I had but again, ask me if I cared. I was more concerned about her than I was myself and since she was sleeping soundly, I didn't want to wake her by getting up.

Unfortunately nature's will was a little stronger than anything else and I slipped out from under her as gently as I could. I kissed her forehead before going off to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. When I came out of the bathroom Sookie had rolled onto her back. I groaned at the sight of her all naked and completely passed out on my bed. Damn she looked good.

Her sex hair/bedhead was going to be epic when she woke up. That meant I would just have to help her wash her hair in the shower. Bummer. I wanted to get back into bed with her but I'd talked to my mother the night before and she requested that Sookie and I get to her house at 1:00. It was already just after ten and it would take about an hour to get to my parents' place. Waking Sookie up was necessary, as much as I didn't want to.

I went back to the bathroom and started the shower before climbing back into bed and trailing my fingers across her stomach. She shifted and her lips curved up into a smile. It took a few more strokes of my fingers before her eyes flitted open. "Morning," she purred and rolled onto her side.

"Good morning," I leaned over and kiss her. "I'm sorry to wake you up but it's already ten and we have to leave by noon to get to my parents' place on time."

Sookie pouted a little and shifted herself so her head was on my stomach. "Can we cancel?"

I laughed and said, "We'll never hear the end of it if we do."

She sighed and said, "It wouldn't be so bad if we could take this bed with us. This bed is really comfortable."

"Yes, it is. I promise, the second we get back, we can get right back in it." I tried to run my fingers through her hair but it was a lost cause. "I started the shower."

Sookie groaned again but then propped herself up on one of her elbows. "Can we stop at the store on the way? I want to pick up flowers for your Mom."

I smiled at her and said, "Sure we can. Shower first though."

"Will you make me coffee?" she stuck her bottom lip out at me, as if she would need to beg me for it. I knew her well enough by that point to know coffee was mandatory first thing in the morning. But hey, if I could maybe get a little something fun out of the deal…

"For a price," I smirked at her.

"Mmmm…what do you want?" Sookie rolled onto her back again, showing me absolutely _everything_ I wanted.

"Just you," I pounced on her, which I knew I shouldn't have but couldn't help myself. There was something addictive about her and I couldn't get enough of it.

"Shower," Sookie gasped when my kisses moved from her mouth and started down her neck. "We don't have time."

Little hands pushed at my shoulders and as much as I didn't want to get off of her, I did. "I'll go start the coffee."

"Thank you, baby," she giggled at the face I made when she called me that.

"Sookie, I can handle pet names if I must, but not baby," I told her.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to try out different ones and see what sticks… pumpkin," she giggled again and then vaulted herself off the bed before I could pounce on her again.

I left her alone while she showered because as much as I wanted to be able to convince myself we would be doing something good for the environment by conserving water, I knew it would end up wasting time we didn't have. I was starving but when Mom did brunch, it was something like having Thanksgiving dinner, but with breakfast foods. So I grabbed an apple and munched on that while I waited for Sookie to get out of the shower.

When I heard the water turn off I poured her a cup of coffee and brought it upstairs to her. While she started on drying her hair, I got in the shower. Shock of all shocks, we were able to keep our mitts off each other long enough to get dressed and ready to go. We were out the door fifteen minutes early to compensate for the stop at the store Sookie requested we make.

"What kind of flowers does your mom like?" She asked once we were browsing the floral section at the nearest grocery store.

"She a mom; she likes any flowers," I shrugged since Mom had never complained about any flowers I'd brought her.

Sookie snorted and said, "All women have a favorite kind of flower."

It dawned on me that I didn't know hers, so I asked.

"Stargazer lilies," Sookie said and then pointed to a bouquet of them to her right. I made a mental note of it for future reference. "Well what's your mother's favorite color?"

That was easy. "Orange."

Sookie beamed and then reached for some orange flowers. "Tiger lilies, Gerber daisies, tulips, gaillardia and roses," Sookie pointed to each flower type and before I could ask how she knew all that she said, "My Gran was big into gardening and I was her favorite helper, whether I wanted to be or not."

"Then you will love my mother's garden. She used to grow those," I pointed to the tulips.

Sookie snorted and said, "She probably still does. Gran and I spent hours digging up every tulip bulb we could find and even so, a whole crop of the little buggers came up the next spring. We called them zombie tulips."

We walked to the registers hand in hand and had a small argument over who was going to pay for the flowers before I ultimately pulled the man card and simply pushed her back behind me. She repaid me with a pinch to my side and what would have been a much cuter pout of she didn't look so pissed. I was reminded of that Indian princess in Peter Pan when she made that face.

"Are you really that mad at me for paying for the flowers?" I asked her once we were in the car. I didn't want to show up at my parents' house with the two of us being on a bad note. Mom would ask a million questions and I didn't want my parents getting in the middle.

"I'm not mad," Sookie insisted and folded her arms over her chest. Sure as fuck coulda fooled me.

"You look mad," I argued with her.

"Eric, I appreciate you wanting to pay for the flowers but that was something I wanted to do for them. Because you paid for them, it doesn't count." Sookie explained and stared out the window.

Oh. Well, that made sense, I guess.

"Sookie, isn't it the thought that counts? Mom will love them no matter who paid for them," I pointed out.

"But _I'll_ know who paid for them, Eric. Just forget it," she sighed and kept her face aimed at the window. She slipped her aviator sunglasses down over her eyes so I couldn't see what was going on there.

Fuck. I really didn't want her to be pissed at me. Mostly because we'd never fought before. I had no idea how long she was going to stay mad or if she was going to let this argument taint the rest of the day. I really didn't see what the big deal was.

The drive to my parents' house was silent for about half of the way before Sookie turned toward me and said, "You know this isn't about the money, right? I mean, you get why I'm upset, don't you?"

"Sookie, I was just trying to do the nice thing. If I had known it was going to really upset you, I would have let you pay for the flowers. I don't see it like because I paid for them, your intentions don't count. We both know this was your idea and what you wanted to do. That's all that matters," I reached for her hand and she let me take it, which I took to be a good sign. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings; that wasn't my intention."

She was quiet for a few minutes and let the words sink in, or maybe she was contemplating her own apology since I felt I was owed one as well. It really hadn't been my intention to hurt her feelings or steal her thunder, or whatever it was she thought I was trying to do by paying for the flowers. We drove on in silence, both of us stewing in our own frustration. I had planned on using the trip to my parents' house to bring up the Black Keys concert I'd bought tickets for but that was clearly out the window.

Sookie would barely look at me and she wasn't talking so it wasn't the right time to mention the idea of spending a weekend together in Dallas. As I was pulling off the highway, I knew we had about another ten minutes before we'd get to my parents' place and I really wanted things to be resolved before we got there.

"Sookie, can we please talk about this?" I asked her.

"Why, so we don't upset your parents?" She asked bitterly.

Okay, now I was pissed.

"What the hell is your problem? I get that I fucked up, although I don't really see where I went wrong. I apologized for hurting your feelings. What else do you want from me?" I glared at her as I came to a stop at the end of the ramp.

"Nothing. I don't want anything from you," Sookie looked out the window.

Right, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped it would. Good work, Northman.

**o.O.o.O.o**

As excited as Mom was over the flowers Sookie had presented her with, I could see a hint of disappointment in Sookie's eyes when Mom turned and headed for the kitchen to put the flowers in water. I grabbed Sookie's hand to keep her from following Mom.

"She loved them. Why are you still upset?" I asked her.

"Just forget it, Eric," she shook her head and looked away from me with tears in her eyes.

"Dammit," I muttered under my breath and cursed in Swedish.

"Eric, Sookie, come in and meet everyone!" Mom called from the living room.

"We'll be right there, Mom!" I called back and pulled Sookie through the mud room and into the garage.

"Eric, come on, let's just go do this brunch thing," Sookie pouted behind me.

"Not until we sort this out. What am I missing here, Sookie?" I stood in front of the door, trapping her in the garage with me.

She stayed silent for a few more seconds before finally answering me. "I have a thing about money, okay? My Gran raised me to be an independent person and I've worked really hard to get to a point where I can support myself just fine without any help from anyone. I know you were trying to do a nice thing and I appreciate it, I really do, I just don't want you thinking I can't take care of myself."

"You think I think you can't take care of yourself?" That kind of hurt, to be honest. "You think I think so little of you? Wow. Well, here's something you should know about me, Sookie. I like doing nice things for people I care about and it has nothing to do with trying to undermine your independence and it's not some underhanded statement about how well you can take care of yourself. I want to be able to buy flowers or take you out to dinner without you thinking you're in debt to me because that's not all the way I see it. So if that's going to be a problem for you, then we're going to need to rethink this relationship."

"Eric, I'm not suggesting we…I don't want us to fight over this," she hung her head and I winced when I saw a tear slip down her cheek.

"Come here," I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. "So then why are we fighting?"

She hugged me back and said, "Because I'm stubborn and bullheaded."

I couldn't argue with that.

"Sookie, I love that you have morals and values that mean so much to you. I would never ask you to compromise yourself to make me happy. I'm just asking you to try and see things from my point of view," I kissed the top of her head.

"I know," she sniffled and then gasped. "Dammit, I fucked up your shirt."

"Don't worry about it," I tilted her head up and wiped away her tears. "I really am sorry I hurt you."

She nodded and said, "I'm sorry I'm such a pain in the ass sometimes."

"You're not a pain in the ass," I leaned down and kissed her. "And even if you are, you're _my_ pain in the ass and I love you."

She kissed me back but before we could get too deep into the whole making up process my father knocked on the garage door. "No fucking in the garage!"

We both froze and Sookie turned ten shades of red before burrowing her face into my chest. "Thanks Pop!" I shouted back with a shake of my head.

"Oh my God," Sookie shook with laughter and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

"We better get out there before Dad gets the hose or something," I kissed the top of her head one more time. "Are we good now?"

"Yeah, we're good," Sookie smiled up at me and stepped back so I could get the garage door open.

**o.O.o.O.o**

As predicted, Mom had just about every breakfast food known to man all spread out on the buffet table in the dining room. A co-worker of my father's was there along with his wife, as well as my mother's best friend and her husband. I'd known Aunt Connie, as I called her, for my entire life. Since my mother's only brother had died in the Vietnam War, Connie was the closest thing Mom had to a sibling. My father's siblings all lived in North Carolina where my father was originally from, and he wasn't particularly close with any of them.

There was way too much food for just eight people and I had no doubt Mom would be sending me home with leftovers. Just as it had been at the awards thing on Friday night Sookie continued to charm my mother, asking for her recipe for the French toast casserole Mom made. When we were done eating Sookie volunteered us to do the dishes but Mom wouldn't let her.

"Nonsense! You're a guest here and while I appreciate the offer, I won't put you to work. Why don't you and Eric take a tour of the house or a walk around the neighborhood instead?" Mom suggested.

"Yeah you should show her your comic book collection," Dad smirked my way.

"I want to see the school picture from when you were twelve," Sookie poked my side and Mom gasped.

"He told you about that?"

"He thinks it's cool," Sookie provided for me and Mom narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yeah well, one day when you two have kids-" Mom cut herself off there but it was too late.

Sookie blushed next to me and I grabbed her hand. "Come on, I'll show you around."

Mom couldn't look me in the eyes after that while Dad sat at the other end of the table, chuckling quietly at the whole exchange. All in all, it was pretty much exactly what I had expected brunch would be like, minus the fight with Sookie. I showed Sookie around the house and I wasn't at all surprised when her jaw dropped in the library. My parents had put an addition onto the house so they would have room for their collection of books. In fact, it was with them that I stored the more valuable books I'd managed to track down.

"Someday I'm going to have to come visit you at work," Sookie leaned into me. "I love the smell of old books. Oh! You know what? There are _tons_ of old books up in my attic! You should go through them and see if there's anything you can use up there."

The excitement on her face was adorable to witness. "Next time I come over I'll take a look," I promised her.

"Okay, now show me your old room." Sookie grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward the door.

I led her up the stairs and we paused in the doorway of each of the two guest rooms. Mom had converted one of the rooms into an office/closet that I really considered was just a clever way of hiding her slight tendency toward hoarding. She claimed it would be wasteful to throw things away since she never knew when she might find a use for them but I failed to see the point in holding onto old typewriter ribbons and copies of some Swedish magazine that went out of publication before we left the country. But that was Mom for you.

My old room was a shrine to my childhood. All of my old comic books were sleeved and kept in milk crates on my closet floor. Dad had passed his collection over to me but the ones in my room I wouldn't sell for anything. They were collectible first editions that some people would cream themselves to get their hands on. They were all in pristine condition and would stay that way.

"Wow," Sookie said as she looked around.

The walls were painted navy blue and there were various stills from different comics framed and hanging on the walls. I had a couple of trophies sitting up on a shelf from the different sports teams I'd played on as a kid. I even had a blue ribbon from my fourth grade spelling bee up there. The room was spotless, which was clearly Mom's doing since it never had been when I lived in it. I wasn't necessarily sloppy but I hadn't come to realize the value of a clean house until I was living on my own and was responsible for my own surroundings all the time.

"So, Mr. Northman," Sookie plopped down on my childhood bed and curled on her side in a pose that was far too alluring for my parents' house. "Which comic is your favorite?"

Damn, that was a hard question to answer. It was sort of like picking which kid was my favorite and I wasn't sure I could do it. I closed my bedroom door just in case things got a little out of hand and Mom came looking for us. Actually, it was Dad who was more likely to come up and I knew he would have absolutely no problem just walking into the room. He'd had a strict policy about locked doors and I was never allowed to have girls in my room. It was probably a good thing too, because chances are I would have ended up a father before I graduated from high school.

My parents could be pretty bohemian about a lot of things. Living in Sweden had mellowed them out in ways I would never know, but Aunt Connie had no reason to lie about them being more conservative before the move. But there were some things my parents just weren't willing to bend on, and me having girls in my room was one of those things. At the time I thought it was stupid but that was before I really had any sort of understanding just how big of a responsibility it would be if I ended up getting a girl pregnant. At seventeen, it just wouldn't have hit me until it was too late.

My mind shifted back to Sookie's question when her hand landed low on my stomach, hovering just over the button on my jeans. She was wearing a dress. It was a cute little summery thing with a full skirt. My mind wandered over to the x-rated section and I started wondering if she was wearing panties under said skirt. If not, I wondered how quiet we could be. But no, I chased that thought away. No way would Sookie have sex with me in my parents' house while they were right downstairs. Would she?

"You still with me?" Sookie asked with amusement.

"Spiderman," I blurted out and then launched into some totally off-the-cuff explanation as to why I had chosen that particular superhero. Sookie listened with rapt attention but had nothing to offer.

"I've never even seen the Spiderman movie," she admitted with a shrug. "My brother never got into that stuff," she said by way of explanation.

"Well, next movie night we'll just have to fix that, won't we?" I suggested and then leaned in to kiss her.

Almost like he had radar for when I was about to really get busy with Sookie, Dad pounded on the door. "No fucking in your bedroom either."

My father, the cockblocker, ladies and gentlemen.

* * *

><p><strong>Right, so I'm not sure which of Eric's parents I love more. Good thing I don't have to choose. It should also be noted that the whole "zombie tulips" thing is a piece of my own life. Mom used to grow them out back and when she decided she didn't want to anymore we spent pretty much an entire weekend digging up the bulbs. We were sure we got them all and yet, the next spring we had a crop of tulips come up so we called them zombie tulips. Anyway... the argument they had here wasn't the angst I was referring to in my previous warning, just so we're clear. Reviews= love &amp; teasers. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	12. Gimme Three Steps

Chapter 12: Gimme Three Steps

_"You have plenty of courage, I am sure," answered Oz. "All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty." –L. Frank Baum_

**SPOV**

I fell asleep in the car on the way home. I felt like such an idiot for letting things get so blown out of proportion earlier in the day. I completely overreacted to what was a nice gesture on Eric's part and I felt awful for it. But I was glad he called me on my bullshit instead of letting it slide the way previous boyfriends would have. Actually, previous boyfriends probably would have called me a bitch and broke up with me.

Maybe that's why I did it. Maybe I needed to see if he would stick around. Oh that couldn't be good. He loved me and I knew it. I felt it every time he looked at me. Why did I need to stir up petty drama? Maybe I should be in therapy.

"Sookie, we're home," Eric shook my shoulder gently when he pulled into his garage.

I yawned and stretched as best I could in the passenger's seat. "Already?"

"Come on, we can go right up to bed if you want," Eric promised me and it sounded like the best thing I'd heard all day.

Getting out of his car always sucked but it was even worse when I was half asleep and wearing a dress. Eric grabbed the containers of leftovers Della had sent us home with and then led us into the house. Eric went to the kitchen with the leftovers while I trudged upstairs. Granted I'd done a lot of physical activity in the last forty-eight hours, but I'd managed to get my eight hours the night before, not to mention all the little catnaps between rounds yesterday.

Why the hell was I so tired?

I didn't even want to get undressed. I just wanted to climb into bed and pass out. But I forced myself to take off my dress and hang it up. I was going to have a ton of stuff to take home with me the next day. I'd only been at Eric's for the last day and a half and it felt like I had enough clothes for a week chilling around his bedroom. Oy.

I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and washed my face. By the time I got back to the bedroom, Eric was already stripping the bed of our dirty sex sheets—good thinking, boyfriend- and putting fresh ones on. "Need some help?" I yawned.

"I got it," Eric said without looking up as he tucked proper hospital corners in at the foot of the bed.

I smirked at the idea that he probably would have dropped the mattress on his hand if he saw me standing there in my hot pink bra and panties. I didn't even consider putting on pajamas. There wasn't much point. Assuming Eric didn't end up taking them off for me in the middle of the night, I was going to have to shower in the morning. Why not save myself the extra step and just sleep naked?

Besides, I'd kinda discovered I liked sleeping naked. Why I'd never given in a shot before, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was because my brother was allergic to knocking, even after he moved out of Gran's house. It never occurred to him that I might either be naked, or with someone when he just let himself into the house. Lord help me if he ever walked in on me having sex. Talk about permablush.

I pulled off what was left of my clothes and that definitely got Eric's attention. "How am I supposed to let you sleep when you're all naked?" Eric narrowed his eyes at me.

"Would you rather I get dressed?" I arched an eyebrow at him. "Besides, you can control yourself. I have faith in you."

"It'll be a lot easier if you're not naked," he grumbled and then flopped back onto the bed.

"Fine," I shrugged and headed for my bag. "I'll put a nightgown on."

Before I could get the cotton over my head, Eric was grabbing me around my waist and pulling me back to bed. "Don't you dare."

I laughed and dropped the nightgown on the floor. He was incorrigible but I'd goaded him. I should have known better.

"Now I can reinstate my 'no clothes in bed' policy," he wiggled his eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Fuck yes!" He nodded with wide eyes.

"Fine, so long as you realize that naked time does not mean you get to sex me up whenever you feel like it." I looked him dead in his eyes.

"I can live with that," he leaned in and pecked me on the lips. "Besides, just looking at you is fun for me."

"Careful, sugar lips, that sounds like a line," I snorted.

"Sugar lips? Veto," Eric shook his head.

"Poodle?"

"Fuck. No." He glared at me and I laughed.

"Cuddle bug?" I suggested and he didn't flat out reject it. Did we have a winner?

"Just don't use it in public," he relented when I made puppy dog eyes at him.

"What about snuggle bunny?" I teased and the narrowing of his eyes in my direction told me I was pushing my luck. "I promise to only call you that around your guy friends."

Yeah, I got pounced after that. So much for going to sleep early.

**o.O.o.O.o**

My alarm went off waaaay too early the next morning. I was cuddled all nice and warm against Eric and then that damn alarm started chirping on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I groaned and blindly reached for the phone. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to reach it from where I was laying. Lucky for me, I was in bed with Stretch Armstrong, and he was able to reach it just by rolling over me a little.

_Hello, morning wood, it's nice of you to make an appearance again today._

While I would have preferred staying in bed and helping Eric deal with his not so little problem, I really couldn't be late for work again so soon. Dr. Ludwig wasn't a total slave driver but she didn't like anyone taking advantage of her either. I reluctantly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to shower up. I had little finger shaped bruises on my hips that had sprung up overnight but I wasn't surprised.

Things had gotten a little crazy after Eric pounced on me and the fact that I wasn't walking with a limp was a bit of a shock. The hot water felt good on my slightly sore muscles but I didn't let myself linger for as long as I wanted to. God only knew what traffic would be like on I-20 and I was going to have to stop for coffee on my way to work. Half the time I tried to use Eric's much fancier coffeemaker, it didn't work right and I ended up with a mug full of sludge. I liked my coffee strong, but I had my limits.

I combed out my hair and pulled it into a French braid fast as lightning. I didn't bother wearing makeup to work since I was around sick kids all day and I'd already been peed on by more than a dozen baby boys. No point in getting dolled up for that. I put on my favorite Mickey Mouse scrub top and a pair of matching hot pink drawstring pants. I climbed up onto the bed beside Eric and brushed some of his hair away from his face.

"Eric, I'm leaving in a minute. I'll call you later, okay?" I whispered near his ear and he grunted. I kissed him softly and then jumped off the bed before his ninja quick arms could pull me down on top of him.

I gathered up the things I absolutely had to take with me that afternoon and decided the gown I'd worn on Friday wasn't one of those things. I made a mental note to buy a second charger for my phone so I could leave it at Eric's place. Unplugging it was a real bitch. Eric rolled over behind me and not two seconds later, he was pinching my ass.

"Hey!" I glared at him over my shoulder.

"I'm not even going to try and apologize," he said with a sleepy smile, his eyes still closed.

"Yeah, I know you're not." I shook my head and gathered up my stuff. "Sweet dreams, puddin'!" I called out over my shoulder as I headed down the hall.

"Veto!" He shouted back and I laughed all the way down the stairs.

Traffic on I-20 wasn't too bad and even though I stopped for coffee and a bagel, I had about ten minutes to spare when I got to the office. Already there were a few patients waiting outside for their appointments. If Dr. Ludwig was running late, which she usually was on Monday mornings, they were going to be waiting a while. As always, sick kids waited in one waiting room and the healthy ones waited in another. I don't know how much good it did, but I guessed it probably helped a little to keep them separated.

The day went by relatively quickly, considering the fact that Dr. Ludwig was fifteen minutes late getting to the office. It never ceased to amaze me how fifteen minutes could put us behind by more than two hours. There were three other nurses on staff, as well as a receptionist. Claudine was the only one I would consider spending time with outside of the office. We went to lunch together once in a while, when the schedule permitted, and had been in charge of organizing all office parties. Tanya and Amanda preferred to do their jobs and go home so they weren't quite as social. So long as they were good to the kids, I didn't care.

I called Eric on my drive home. He was still at his shop, putting up a shipment he'd been waiting for when I called. "How was your day?" He asked me first thing.

"Well, I didn't get peed or puked on, so I consider it a winner. How about you?" I asked and wished I could kick my shoes off. Even with the amazing massage Eric had given me, my feet were still sore from Friday night. Damn heels.

"Had to kick a couple of kids out of the store today. Apparently they didn't think the whole no smoking thing applied to them," Eric grumbled. Eric didn't like smokers to begin with, and he sure as hell didn't want them in his _book_ store. Couldn't blame him there.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I pouted for him.

"It's no big deal. I've dealt with worse in the past," he sighed and then said, "I miss you."

Yep, my heart totally melted. "I miss you too."

"When do I get to see you this week?"

"I have dinner plans with Tara tomorrow but how about Wednesday?" I suggested.

"I have inventory on Wednesday." The pout in his voice made me smile.

"Well I could keep you company. I promise to be a good girl and let you work," I said in a voice that completely betrayed my promise.

"Only if you promise to wear a skirt of some kind," he requested. I had a pretty good idea of what he had in mind but I simply agreed. "Then it's a date."

"Yes, it's a date."

"I love you," he told me and I could have kicked myself for not saying it back when I had the chance.

I would not say it for the first time over the phone. Stupid sexy man distracting me from saying the important things instead of things like, "Yes, harder!" Ugh. Sometimes I really wondered where my mind went.

**o.O.o.O.o**

After work on Wednesday I stopped at home to change out of my scrubs and pack a bag to take to Eric's. I put on a cute little red, white and blue plaid sundress with one of those elastic busts and barely there straps that crisscrossed behind my back. I traded in my sneakers for a pair of flip-flops and just for the heck of it; I slipped on my Gran's ring. I had made the resolution with myself that I was going to stop being such a dummy and tell Eric I loved him already.

Since I was sure Eric had some sort of diabolical plan in mind, I also traded my basic, cotton bra and panties for something a little sexier. I was fully prepared to sacrifice the red lace boyshorts I slipped on to the sex gods if need be. How was it that seven months had gone by and it hadn't seemed that long, and now it had only been two days since the last time I had sex and it felt like two decades? So not cool.

I switched purses since the one I had been carrying didn't match and picked a red one out of my closet instead. It was a pretty, deep red leather bag that matched my dress perfectly. Gran would have been so proud of me. I piled my hair up on top of my head and pinned it in place, leaving just a few wisps down near my face. I brushed my teeth and slicked on a coat of lip gloss before getting back in the car and heading on to Shreveport.

I stopped for takeout Chinese food on my way and figured if Eric wasn't hungry, at least I had lunch for the next day. The shop was already closed by the time I got there. He closed early on the days he did inventory, or so he told me. Usually the place was closed up at six. The store was open later on the weekends, which was when they did the most business anyway.

Eric was behind the counter when I got there, fiddling with his laptop. "Dinner is here if you're hungry," I announced as I walked toward him with a big bag full of takeout.

"Starved," he smiled at me and then groaned when he took in my dress. "You remembered."

"Darlin' I've been thinking about what you've been planning since Monday." I leaned over the counter and kissed him hello. "Work first, play later. Think of it as incentive to finish up."

"You're evil," he narrowed his eyes but then the smell of the Chinese food caught him and he was all about digging through the bag. "Did you get me-"

"Beef with peapods, yes, I did," I smiled at him.

"That's my girl," he kissed me again.

We went over to the vintage couches he had set up for people to sit and read on, and ate dinner together. We ate right out of the cartons with chopsticks, stealing bits from each other's containers as the mood struck us. I filled him in on my dinner with Tara and her insistence that she meet him.

"I think she's excited that I'm not dating a scumbag for a change," I told him and took a drink of my water.

"Have a history with that, do you?" Eric wasn't judging me but then he never did.

"I've made some less than stellar choices where boyfriends are concerned, present company excluded, of course," I winked at him and plucked a peapod from his carton.

"I think we all do that. Makes it easier to spot the right one," he stole a piece of my sweet 'n sour chicken.

I reserved commentary on whether or not Eric considered me to be the right one. He informed me he'd heard from Pam and she was shocked to learn Eric and me were still together. I knew the story about Pam and the history she and Eric shared. He'd stressed the point that whatever romantic history they had was in the past and her stints as a house guest had her sleeping in a guest bedroom only. I didn't have a problem with that.

It was perfectly acceptable for people of the opposite sex to be just friends. I had a few guy friends myself, starting with Alcide. Don't get me wrong, Alcide was a good looking guy, but that didn't mean I wanted to bang him. And since I'd known him for as long as I had, it would have been like boning my brother that's just…ew.

When we were finished eating, I cleaned up while Eric got back to work. The quicker he finished up, the quicker we could get home. I offered to help in any capacity I could but since I didn't really know his system, I wasn't very helpful. So instead, I grabbed a book from one of the shelves and started reading. Music was playing softly and I was on the verge of falling asleep when Eric shook me awake.

"Chow completely fucked up the last batch of counts he did and I have to find about three dozen missing volumes so I'm going to be a while. If you want to head back to my place you can, but I'm going on a coffee run. Do you want anything?" Eric was kneeling down beside the couch.

"No, I'm good. I'll wait here for you," I smiled at him.

"Okay, I'll be quick," he kissed my forehead.

"I love you," I said before I could stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth.

He froze for a second, his eyes meeting mine. "Say that again?"

"I love you. I meant to tell you the other day-" I didn't get to finish because his mouth was definitely all over mine. Sweet baby Jesus, it was one of those almost sloppy kisses guaranteed to make my panties go _poof!_

"It doesn't matter. I love you, too." He brushed some of my hair out of my face. "I'll be right back."

I lay there on the couch, silently kicking myself for not just telling him sooner but the important thing was that he knew now. My eyes drifted closed again and when I heard the door open a few minutes later, I figured it was Eric. I stayed right where I was on the couch, thinking he would come find me when he was good and ready.

Instead what I heard was the sound of glass breaking in the back. I shot up off the couch, unsure of what to do. Apparently whoever was in the store had no idea I was there. I looked around for a weapon of some sort but the only thing I saw that might do any sort of damage was an old dictionary and if I threw it, whoever was in the shop could shoot me before it hit them.

My gut told me to hide but my body wouldn't follow that command. Instead, I crept along the bookcases and watched as two teenagers pilfered their way through the more expensive comic books that Eric kept locked up. The two boys couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty. One was obviously Hispanic and spoke with a slight lisp. The other one was taller but it was hard to tell what race he was, exactly. They both had dark hair and eyes. The taller one was twitchy and wearing a Saints jersey. The younger one had a jailhouse style tattoo on the back of his neck but it was hard to make out exactly what it was.

They didn't seem to have weapons on them, but they could have had them tucked under their shirts. I crept back toward the front counter and grabbed my cell phone out of my purse to call 911. The smartest thing for me to do was to hide. Unfortunately, before I could dial out, my phone rang. _Big Ten Inch_ by Aerosmith cut through the silence and I scrambled to stop the sound. Eric was calling.

_Fuck! What do I do?_

If I answered, the ringing would stop and the boys would probably come looking for the source of the noise, just like they would if I ignored the call. But if I let it ring and left it right where it was while I hid, they could steal my phone and come looking for me anyway. Shit, shit, shit.

Purely on impulse, I answered the call and brought the phone to my ear. "Eric," I whispered but he started talking.

"I'm glad you answered. I just realized I forgot to lock the door. You should be safe but-"

"Someone broke in." I whispered just as the boys came around the corner.

Guns. They both had a gun. Fuck.

"Hang up the fucking phone!" The Hispanic one shouted.

"What the fuck was that?" Eric shouted. "Sookie, what's going on?"

"I said hang up the phone!" The Hispanic one cocked his gun and I ended the call. "Toss it over here."

I tossed my phone toward the two boys and kept my hands up. "I'm not going to fight you. Just take what you want."

"Open the register," the tall one demanded.

"I can't. I don't work here. This is my boyfriend's shop. I'm just here to keep him company," I burst into tears and hoped that wherever Eric was, he wasn't too far away.

"Don't fucking lie to me, lady, now open the fucking register!" The tall one stepped closer to me, waving his gun in my face.

"I can't!" I sobbed.

"Down on your knees!" He shouted with the gun aimed at my head.

It was actually a good thing he gave me that order because my knees were buckling anyway. I got down and kept my hands up.

"Face the wall," he instructed and I felt the muzzle of the gun against the back of my head.

I squeezed my eyes closed and all I could think was that I was glad I'd told Eric I loved him. If I died right then, at least he wouldn't have to wonder about it. Of course, those thoughts only my made me cry harder.

"Please don't kill me," I begged, keeping my face aimed at the wall. "Take anything you want, just don't kill me."

"Give me your ring," the tall one demanded and my heart lurched.

Gran's engagement ring. It was supposed to bring me luck and now, assuming I survived and ever got it back, it would be tainted by this whole experience. All the same, I slipped it off my finger and handed it over.

"The earrings too," the Hispanic one lisped and I reached to take them off once at a time. They weren't worth much but the boys didn't know that.

I was shaking like a leaf and I could hear the roar of Eric's Corvette. I'd know the sound of that monster anywhere. Just when I started to feel some kind of relief that maybe I would get out of this unscathed, I remembered the guns pointed to my head and hoped that Eric wouldn't come rushing in and get himself shot.

But then there was a stinging pain in the back of my head and everything went black. After that, I didn't think anything at all.

* * *

><p><strong>Reader: <strong>OMG NO! SCROLL DOWN! THERE HAS TO BE MORE! *clicks furiously*

**Emmee: **Nope, that's it for today.

**Reader: **But you can't leave it like that! That's just evil!

**Emmee: **There will be a new chapter tomorrow. I warned you there would be angst.

**Reader: ***huffs* You didn't say anything about a cliffhanger... bitch.

**Emmee: ***shrugs*

**I have a bunch of research to do today for another project so I won't have time for teasers. Great timing on my part, huh? I swear that's not intentional. However, there really will be a new chapter up tomorrow. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Selling the Drama

Chapter 13: Selling the Drama

"_There is no refuge from memory and remorse in this world. The spirits of our foolish deeds haunt us, with or without repentance." –Gilbert Parker_

**EPOV**

Panic. Rage. Regret. Terror. I felt all of those things as time seemed to creep along. No matter how heavy my foot was on the accelerator, it felt like I was barely moving. Thank fuck I knew how to take corners at high speeds or I would have skidded out of control long before my car came screeching to a stop in front of the shop. From the outside, everything looked normal, minus the light that was on inside.

I grabbed my phone out off the passenger's seat and threw the driver's side door open. My gut told me not to touch anything and that I should probably wait for the cops to arrive before going inside but I needed to see for myself if Sookie was okay. I had screamed into my phone for a good thirty seconds, hoping that if I shouted loud enough she would magically reconnect on the other end of the line.

_Why the fuck didn't I lock the fucking door?_

All of this could have been avoided if I had just put the fucking key in the lock, and made sure Sookie was locked inside. It wasn't as if she would need a key to get out if there was a fire or something. It was pure stupidity on my part. She could have been…

The door opened easily when I yanked on it and I stormed inside without much thought as to whether or not the intruders might still be inside. I went straight for the counter where I kept a loaded revolver tucked away under the register. Sookie didn't know that, of course, and I was kicking myself for not telling her about the gun, or the panic button. Had she hit that, a silent alarm would have been triggered and police would have responded before the assholes who broke in would be able to escape.

Fuck, shit, fuck.

I stopped short when I saw Sookie's purse overturned on the floor, pennies, chap stick, her mini makeup bag and a bottle of perfume were scattered on the floor. I was willing to bet her wallet was missing. Fuckers. In the back I could see one of the glass cases had been smashed and since it was all where the rarities were kept, I knew whoever had stolen what was in there had made off with several thousand dollars worth of merchandise.

But what really got me was the foot sticking out from behind the counter. My heart stopped in my chest. My vision started to cloud and then tunnel. I staggered over to where Sookie was laying and I felt my stomach turn. She was face down on the cold, hard tile. Her skirt was up and I nearly threw up at the thought that she might have been sexually assaulted.

Blood was pooled around her, dripping from a cut somewhere on her head. No doubt she'd been pistol whipped, at the very least. Sirens screaming in the distance were getting closer. I wanted to get down on the ground and touch her but I wouldn't jeopardize her health because I was afraid for her. I backed my way out of the store with my hands up and waited for the police to arrive.

I don't even know what I said to them when they showed up. All I could remember saying was, "Please just get my girlfriend out of there."

I was being asked a million questions and all I wanted was to get in the back of the ambulance with Sookie. Fuck the shop and everything in it. I called Chow to get his ass down there to deal with the cops so I could go with Sookie. He knew more about what would be missing from the case than I would. He was furious with me for waking him up but when I told him what happened, he cursed in his native tongue and promised to be at the shop in five minutes.

Paramedics loaded a still unconscious Sookie onto a stretcher and it was obvious the detectives were pissed when I ditched them to go with Sookie, but I didn't care. There was plenty of time to answer questions later. The important thing was making sure Sookie was okay.

"Can I hold her hand?" I asked the EMT who was relaying Sookie's vital signs to whoever she was talking to at the hospital. She nodded and I grabbed Sookie's hand. It was lifeless.

"Sookie, baby, can you hear me?" I leaned closer to her. "Please open your eyes."

Nothing.

I kissed the back of her hand and kept my eyes on her face. I apologized to her over and over again. God I was such a fucktard! How could I have been so damn stupid as to leave the fucking door unlocked?

When we got to the hospital I was told I had to wait in the waiting room and since I wasn't a blood relative of hers, nor was I her husband, the staff wouldn't be able to update me on her condition. I thanked God Jason had given me his phone number at Alcide's wedding and even though it was almost eleven o'clock, I called him. If nothing else, he had the right to know his sister had been attacked.

"Hello?" His sleepy voice was raspy as fuck.

"Jason, its Eric. I know it's late but Sookie's in the hospital. I need you to get over here right away," I told him.

"What? What happened?" Jason was alarmingly more alert.

"She was in my shop and someone broke in. She's just knocked out but the doctors won't tell me anything and I need to know if she's okay," I was on the verge of tears for the second time. My next call was going to be to my father.

"Which hospital?" Jason asked.

I gave him the information and he promised he'd be there as soon as possible. My call waiting beeped and it was Chow on the other line. I clicked over to find out what he wanted and not too surprisingly, he didn't really care about Sookie. He was more concerned with what had been taken.

"Looks like they got everything that was in that case. I pulled the security tapes for the cops so they could have a look." Chow informed me. "They want to see you first thing in the morning but I think one of the guys is on his way over right now."

"Great," I sighed. "Anything else missing besides the stuff in the case?"

"It looks like they tried to pry open the register. The cops think your girlfriend's wallet was stolen too, since the crime scene people couldn't find it anywhere in their search. We're going to be out of business until at least Saturday," Chow said angrily.

"I'll try to get in there tomorrow if I can to see if there's anything from the book inventory that's missing," I shook my head, exhaustion starting to take hold of me since my adrenaline was wearing off.

"Sounds good. Fuck, I have to go before someone screws up the comics," Chow said and hung up. He wasn't a people person.

I sank into a vacant chair and called my father.

**o.O.o.O.o**

Jason arrived ten minutes before my parents did. While he went to go get an update on Sookie's condition, my mother wrapped me in a hug so tight I thought I was going to lose circulation. Dad peeled her off of me, but she wouldn't let go of my hand. I recounted the whole story for them while we waited for Jason.

"Sorry to interrupt, but they're going to let me back to see Sookie," Jason said once he got over to where we were sitting. "I'll let her know you're here if she's awake."

"Tell her I love her?" I stared right at Jason, who gave me a respectful nod before following a nurse through the doors I couldn't pass.

Stupid hospital policy.

I'd reached my limit on talking for the night. I sat there still as a statue and completely silent. Dad went to get coffee for all of us while Mom kept rubbing circles on the inside of my wrist in attempts to keep me calm. I don't know if it was working or not but at least I didn't want to punch a wall anymore.

I didn't know if I was angrier with myself or the punks who had broken into the store. And really, was it even fair to call it a break in, since my stupid ass didn't lock the door? I kept running my hand over the top of my head and when I started to nod off; I got up and started pacing. No way was I going to sleep until I knew for sure that Sookie was okay. Hell, I wasn't planning to leave the hospital until she could. I didn't care if that meant living in the waiting room until then.

"Eric?" Jason's voice caught me and I whipped around to face him.

"How is she?" I stuffed my hands in my pockets so he wouldn't see them shaking.

"She's still unconscious but the docs think it's just a severe concussion. They had to put a couple of stitches in the back of her head but other than that, she's fine." Jason told me and when he didn't mention if she'd been sexually assaulted or not, I wondered if he knew. I wasn't going to say anything though. "I told her doc that you're her boyfriend and Sook'll be angrier 'n a wet cat if she wakes up and they won't let you back there to see her."

So it wasn't just squirrels in that head of his after all. Sookie would be impressed when she woke up. "Thank you, Jason."

"No problem, man. Thanks for calling me. So uh, what happened anyway?" Jason asked and after I told my parents I was going back to see Sookie, I started telling Jason the story.

"Motherfuckers," he cursed under his breath.

"My thoughts exactly," I sighed and squeezed the bridge of my nose.

"Well listen, I have to get back to Bon Temps. There's nothing else I can do for her right now and I'm sure she'd much rather see you when she wakes up anyway. But if anything changes, you'll let me know, yeah?" Jason looked concerned and the fact that he'd shown up in a timely manner told me it wasn't just an act; he really did love his little sister.

"Absolutely," I nodded and then let him muscle me into one of those bro hugs.

I pulled back the curtain and peeked into Sookie's little area to find her lying on one of those gurneys that barely qualifies as a bed. Her dress was gone and replaced with a generic hospital gown. Her hair was fanned out around her and I could still see trace amounts of blood in it from where she'd been hit. I staggered over to the chair beside her bed and fell into it. I wanted to get into bed with her but there just wasn't enough room for us both.

Instead, I grabbed onto her hand and rested my head on her stomach so I was looking up at her. With her fingers against my lips I said, "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

The guilt was killing me. Why the hell did I even go on a coffee run anyway? I hate the stuff. So many things I would do differently if I could and yet it was a waste to list them all because I couldn't change the past. There was no rewind button, no time machine for me to go back with. Bad things happened to good people every fucking day. It just sucked that Sookie's number had come up in that particular lottery.

"You must be the boyfriend," a quiet voice said from behind me and I turned to see a pretty redhead with big blue eyes smiling back at me.

"Yeah, I'm Eric," I reached a hand out to her.

"Jessica. Do you have any questions?" She asked while checking the monitors Sookie was attached to.

"Yeah, I uh…when I found her in the store she was already out cold so I couldn't ask her myself…" I trailed off and tried to force the words out of my mouth. "Was she…her dress was weird so I…was she raped?"

Jessica's face softened with sympathy and she said, "We did a rape kit just in case. The doctor didn't find any evidence of sexual trauma."

I squeezed my eyes closed with relief. I nodded but had nothing else to say to the nurse. Instead I squeezed Sookie's hand a little tighter and put my head back on her stomach. I wanted to be the first thing she saw when she woke up so she would know she was safe. All I could do was hope she would be able to find a way to forgive me for being so careless.

Something was in my hair. Warm, soft, over and over I felt it. My eyes fluttered open and then I remembered I was in the hospital. My eyes jerked up toward Sookie's face to see her smiling down at me. She looked like she always did and the urge to wrap myself around her, to protect her from everything and nothing completely overwhelmed me.

"How ya feelin', sleepyhead?" Sookie continued to run her fingers through my hair.

"How long have you been awake?" I sat up and moved so I was sitting on the bed with her.

"About four hours now. Doc came in and checked me out and everything and you just kept on sleeping. I didn't have the heart to wake you," she stroked my cheek.

I don't know why, but I started laughing. The overload had probably gotten the best of me. I leaned toward her so our foreheads were touching and she winced quietly, stopping my laughter in its tracks. "Did I hurt you?"

"My head's a little sore. Doc says it's going to be a couple of weeks before I feel like myself again, and I'm off work for at least the next two weeks." Sookie informed me and then sucked that bottom lip into her mouth.

"What?" I knew something was up.

"Well, because it's a concussion, it's better if I have someone to keep an eye on me-"

"You're staying with me," I grabbed her hand tightly. "I don't want to fight about it, I just want you to nod your head, blink or squeeze my hand to let me know you're down with it."

"I love you," she said and that was really all I needed to hear.

"How soon can I take you home?" I tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"The papers are being drawn up now," she turned and kissed my palm. "Your parents are still out in the waiting room. They let your Mom back for just a minute after I woke up. Why don't you go let them know what's what? Your Mom was worried about you."

"I'm fine," I insisted, even though the tears on my face indicated I most definitely wasn't fine, but Sookie didn't try to argue.

"Well she's not. Go give her a hug and let her know you're okay. I'll be right here when you get back, I promise," she kissed the tip of my nose.

"You win." I kissed her softly on the mouth.

It felt like there was something else I should be saying to her just then, some parting remark but instead I just told her I loved her and then went to go deal with my parents. I found them sitting on a little love seat type thing in the waiting room, leaned up against each other and surrounded by a bunch of empty coffee cups. I tapped Dad on the shoulder first, knowing he wouldn't startle awake the way Mom did.

"How is she?" Dad asked with concern.

"She's okay. The doctors are releasing her and I'm going to bring her back to my place until she's ready to go home by herself. Because of the concussion, she needs someone to keep an eye on her for a few days." I said and even if that wasn't the case, I probably wouldn't have let her go home alone.

"Have you heard anything from the police yet?" Dad asked as he rubbed his face.

"I haven't checked my phone," I shrugged. I wasn't really even thinking about that yet. My main priority was getting Sookie home and settled in.

"Alright, well, call if you need anything. I can come by and help you straighten up the shop if you need it and you know your mother will be cooking up a storm to make sure you both eat well." Dad warned me and I smiled.

Mom always turned to cooking in times of crisis. I guess it gave her some sense of control when she was lost in chaos. "I'm sure she will," I sighed and then put a hand on Dad's shoulder. "Thank you for coming."

"You might be an adult, but you're my boy. Besides, your mother never would have gotten back to sleep if we stayed put."

I knew all about nervous energy. I'd inherited my penchant for pacing from her. I stooped down to kiss Mom's forehead but she didn't move. I also inherited sleeping like the dead from her. Dad knew how to handle her though, and I knew I'd be hearing from Mom soon enough. With that in mind, I went back to Sookie.

**o.O.o.O.o**

"Eric, you don't have to carry me upstairs," Sookie stopped me when I tried to pick her up. "I only have a headache, not a broken back."

"I know…I just…this is my fault," I told her and her mouth dropped open.

"Eric, what happened is _not_ your fault. Please don't blame yourself for this," she squeezed my hand.

"I didn't lock the door," I couldn't look at her just then.

"So that makes it okay that those two idiots broke in? You had no way of knowing that was going to happen. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm going to be okay," Sookie assured me but I wasn't ready to let it go just yet. "What about the store?"

I looked at her like she had two heads. "I'm not worried about that."

"Don't be silly," Sookie pulled me toward the kitchen.

"Where are you going? You need to be in bed resting," I pulled her back toward me.

"If I go upstairs and get in bed, will you bring your laptop and phone so we can get some of the stuff with the store straightened out?" Sookie asked. "I need to call the credit card companies and cancel all of my cards. And I need to file a claim with my insurance company for my Gran's ring."

Fuck. Her Gran's ring. I had completely forgotten Sookie had been wearing it the night before. Monetarily I had no idea what the ring was worth, but I knew the personal value on it was priceless. I suddenly felt like a dick for being so wrapped up in myself when I should have been more concerned with getting Sookie situated. I was so hell bent on protecting her from a threat that didn't really exist I couldn't see anything else.

"Yes, I'll bring that stuff upstairs," I promised her.

"Thank you. Oh, and maybe some water?" She nibbled her bottom lip.

"Anything you want," I touched her cheek.

"Just water for now, Jeeves," she smiled at kissed my wrist.

At least she hadn't lost her sense of humor. I watched her walk up the stairs slowly and while I was getting her the water she asked for, I heard the shower start upstairs. She couldn't wash her hair for another day or so but I couldn't blame her for wanting to get clean. Being in hospitals always made me feel like I was a walking time bomb of infectious material.

I gathered everything she asked for, along with a spare legal pad so she could make notes of all the things she needed to do. I went to the bathroom to check on her and after I was sure she was fine, I started up the laptop. The doorbell rang downstairs and I went to get the door. Two detectives from the Shreveport Police Department were standing there on my porch. I vaguely recognized them from the night before.

"Mr. Northman, I'm Detective John Sanders and this is my partner, Jo Colbert. Can we come in?" Detective Sanders asked.

"Yes, of course," I stepped back to let them in the house. "You can have a seat in there," I pointed toward the living room. "I'll go upstairs and get Sookie."

"Thanks," the Detectives walked into the living room but didn't sit down.

I ran up the stairs two at a time and headed for the master bathroom. Sookie was just stepping from the shower and wrapping a towel around herself when I found her. "There are some detectives downstairs that want to talk to us. Are you feeling up to it?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute to get dressed and I'll be right down," Sookie gave me a faint smile. "Oh, and Eric?"

"Yes, love?" I turned back to face her.

"Put on a pot of coffee for me, will you? I can never get the damn thing to work right." Sookie grabbed her toothbrush.

"Yes, dear," I laughed internally at her insistence on southern hospitality even when she was about to be questioned about a crime that had been committed against her.

Only my Sookie.

* * *

><p><strong>See? No memory loss! Just a knock on the head and a couple of stitches. Not great, but better than having amnesia lol. I really never had any intention of going there so you don't have to worry about that becoming an issue. What you should worry about is Eric feeling all that guilt with his obsessive personality. Oy. And I realize that Sookie probably should have been kept another night in the hospital but I released her into the care of her very watchful, very protective boyfriend who is more than happy to be her personal slave for the next few weeks. Wonder how long it'll be before Sook goes nuts? Thanks for reading!<strong>


	14. Ever the Same

Chapter 14: Ever the Same

"_You know it's been said that we just don't recognize the significant moments of our lives while they're happening. We grow complacent with ideas, or things or people and we take them for granted and it's usually not until that thing is about to be taken away from you that you've realized how wrong you've been that you realized how much you need it, how much you love it." –One Tree Hill_

**SPOV**

I told the detectives everything I could remember about the robbery. I gave as detailed a description as I could of the two guys who had attacked me and I told them what I thought was missing. I knew they'd taken my earrings and my Gran's ring. I could only assume my wallet and cell phone were gone. What really killed me was finding out my car was gone as well. My heart completely sank. If they took my car that meant they had my house keys and that meant they could have driven out to Bon Temps, ransacked my house and taken anything of value before anyone even knew they had been there.

Detective Colbert made a call to have officers dispatched to my house and it looked like Eric and I would be making a trip out to Bon Temps to make sure nothing was missing. I didn't have a whole lot in the house that was worth much, but I did have Gran's silver. That silver had been passed from generation to generation and had traveled across the damn Atlantic and thousands of miles to make its home in the buffet table in my dining room.

I was furious. It was bad enough my head was killing me with that dull, throbbing ache I had to endure, to say nothing of those fucking stitches, but now they might have breeched my house as well? Little bastards better hope the cops found them first because if I did, I'd kick their asses. But then I looked over at Eric and saw the irate fury etched in his face and I got a little scared. I was talking the talk but I was pretty sure Eric would walk the walk, and I didn't need him to get himself arrested in some misguided attempt at defending my honor.

In all, the robbers had made out pretty well. Between the comics, my wallet and car, they'd gotten away with close to $80,000.00 worth of stuff. Detective Sanders opened a file he was carrying and asked me to look at some pictures to see if I could identify anyone. Immediately two faces jumped out at me and I handed those pictures back to the detective.

"This one," I held up the picture of the taller man. "He's the one who knocked me out. The little one with the tattoo is the one who was yelling at me to get off the phone."

"Can I see those?" Eric asked and reached for the photos. "I know these two. They've been in the store before."

"Do you have names for them?" Detective Sanders asked, his pen poised over a notepad to take down whatever Eric said.

"Yeah this is Felipe de Castro," Eric put a name to the face of the Hispanic kid who had scared the piss out of me. "And this is Victor Madden. I kicked them out of the store on Monday because Victor decided to light up in the back. They weren't happy with me about it."

I saw another layer of guilt shellac itself onto what was already there and I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me once the detectives were gone. They stuck around a while longer to ask a few more questions before offering us a ride to Bon Temps. Eric declined and said he would drive us there. With his mood, I wasn't too keen on getting in a car with him but I didn't have the strength to fight.

I excused myself to take a couple of ibuprofen and then try to figure out something to wear other than a securely tied bathrobe. I stood at the foot of Eric's bed and all of a sudden, the weight of everything landed on my shoulders. My knees buckled and I leaned against his bed while I sobbed. Not ten seconds later, Eric was kneeling on the ground next to me.

"Sookie, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" He gently tugged me closer to him.

I couldn't answer him; all I could do was sob. He sat there with me cuddled against his chest, rocking me slowly while I had my little breakdown. As angry as I was over what had been done to me, there was a part of me that was even more relieved that Eric hadn't been hurt, too. I had no doubt that Eric would have preferred the shoe was on the other foot, and he was the one who took the injury but I was actually glad it worked out the way it did.

Eric would have been content to play the tough guy throughout the whole thing and act like none of it affected him. Yes, he was concerned for me and I loved him for it, but he was pushing the rest of it away. He didn't want to deal with the fact that he had been violated too in this whole ordeal. It was _his_ shop that had been damaged in all of this, after all.

I pulled it together, knowing the longer I sat on the floor freaking out, the harder it was going to be for Eric to follow through with what we needed to do. I needed to go home and get some of my things. I needed to make arrangements with Dr. Ludwig to take some time off. I had calls to make to various creditors, insurance companies, a locksmith and probably an alarm company to take care of all this mess.

"I'm okay, Eric. I just got overwhelmed." I sniffled and rubbed at my face. "Can I borrow some of your clothes? The only thing I have here to wear is that gown from Friday."

"Of course you can," he kissed my forehead with relief. "Take whatever you want."

I'd gotten my dress back from the hospital but it was covered in blood and there was no way in hell I ever wanted to wear it again after what I'd been through. I was going to have to go without a bra but at least my panties would work until I could get home for fresh ones. Too bad Eric never got a chance to see them. He probably would have liked them.

I found a pair of drawstring pajama pants and after tying them, I rolled the cuffs at the bottom until they were Capri pants. I grabbed an old Lynyrd Skynyrd concert t-shirt and slipped that on as well. It wasn't the best outfit ever but it would have to do. The detectives were already gone by the time I got downstairs.

"Hang on a second," I reached for Eric's hand when he headed for the garage door.

"What?" He asked in a hurried tone.

I stepped toward him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I squeezed him tightly, just needing that little bit of reassuring contact between us. I wanted him to know that even though I was on shaky ground, I was going to be okay. Mostly I wanted him to know I was still there and he could lean on me just as much as I would be leaning on him.

"I love you," I whispered and made a promise to myself I would tell him that every chance I got.

What was it about coming close to losing something you loved that made you appreciate it that much more when you didn't? All it would have taken was a gentle squeeze of Victor Madden's finger and I would be dead. God I could only imagine what it would have done to Eric if they had killed me. Just the thought of him walking into the shop to find me sprawled out… No, I couldn't think about that. It hadn't happened. I was hurt, but I would recover. I was alive and that was the thing I needed to focus on and so did Eric.

"I love you too," he whispered back and when he kissed me, I could feel it.

"We better go," I said after breaking the kiss. If we got started on that, we would never leave.

"Yeah," Eric sighed and opened the garage door for me to go first.

**o.O.o.O.o**

By the time I got to Bon Temps there were cops everywhere, along with my brother, who had a spare key. It just so happened he was at Merlotte's when Andy Bellefleur got the call to run out to my property to take a look around. Since Jason had a key and was already aware of what I'd been through the night before, he'd let Andy into the house. The place was being dusted for fingerprints and I was asked to take a look around to see if anything was missing.

The first place I went was to the dining room where the silver was kept. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was all there. Then I checked the electronics and that was all there too. If there were DVDs or CDs missing, I didn't notice it, but those were easy to replace. None of Gran's other jewelry had been taken and nothing appeared to be out of order. Thank God.

According to Jason the house had been locked up tight when he got there and I doubt that if those kids had come through they would have left things untouched and they sure as fuck wouldn't have taken the time to close up the house when they were finished. I was standing on the porch with Eric, leaning against him for support when Bill appeared out of the trees to the left of the house.

He marched toward me with a look of concern. "Sookie, what happened? Were you robbed?"

I really didn't want to deal with Bill at the moment but I didn't have a whole hell of a lot of choice. "Last night, but the house is fine. It's a long story, but I'm okay."

Bill was staring intensely at Eric, trying to figure out who he was. Eric didn't make a move to introduce himself and I was perfectly okay with that. Bill, on the other hand, wasn't.

"Bill Compton," Bill reached a hand out and Eric shook it firmly.

"Eric Northman," he answered and I straightened up.

"Eric this is my ex. Bill, this is my current," I gestured between them and the tension radiating off of Bill was exactly what I didn't need right then. I was in no mood for a pissing contest, especially given that Bill's girlfriend, or whatever the hell she was to him, was carrying his baby. "Look, Bill, the police have everything under control here and nothing is missing. As soon as they give me the all clear to grab some of my things, I'm going with Eric."

Bill glowered and said, "You have my number. Call me if you need anything."

Pass.

"Thanks," I said instead, seeing no reason to start an argument. I just wanted him to go away.

Bill shuffled off toward the woods and a few minutes later Detective Colbert came outside to give us the all clear to go in and get the things I wanted to take with me back to Eric's place. Eric went up to the attic to get one of the suitcases down for me while I raided my closet and dresser. My phone rang while I was waiting and I wasn't the least bit surprised when it was the local TV stations trying to get some sort of statement from me. What they really wanted was to interview me on the morning news. I took a pass.

I didn't know why those boys had attacked me but I wouldn't reward them with any more screen time than they were already getting. Besides, they turned out to be minors so their names couldn't even be released to the public. The whole thing was tragic but it wasn't really the sort of crime where a lesson could be learned by the masses.

Eric came down with the suitcase and a pissed off look on his face. Apparently I wasn't the only one who had gotten a phone call and just like me, he had denied the request for an interview. If Chow wanted to go on TV, there was nothing Eric could do to stop it but he wasn't about to talk about my ordeal on the morning news.

He helped me pack up what I needed and promised he would bring me back anytime I wanted to come. Andy promised he would be sending Kevin and Kenya to watch the house and make sure no one was in it while I was gone. I would be having a locksmith out the next day to change all of the locks. In the meantime the house was going to be sealed up like a crime scene in the hopes that if the boys _did_ decide to come out and see if they could score anything, they would be deterred from it. You know, assuming the squad car wasn't deterrent enough.

It was probably pointless, but I wondered about those boys' mamas. What kind of families did they come from that this sort of thing was acceptable? Now I never would have done the kinds of things those boys did, but if for some strange reason I did, the police wouldn't have stood a chance in holding me accountable. Gran woulda skinned me alive before they ever caught me. Somehow I doubted the same was true for those boys.

I grabbed the important financial papers and other records I needed so I could contact my bank, credit card companies and insurance adjusters. A notice had been put out that my car had been stolen but Detective Sanders told me not to get my hopes up. If nothing else, it would be stripped for parts and I would probably end up having to get a new car.

While we were driving back home I used Eric's phone to call the bank and report my debit card stolen. A quick check of my financial records showed that no charges had been made in my name since I paid for the Chinese food the night before. I breathed a sigh of relief on that and they promised to issue me a new card immediately. Unfortunately, I would be without one for the next seven to ten business days. Wonderful.

After that I called the credit card companies and canceled all of those cards. No charges had been made there either and new cards would be issued on those accounts as well. My next call was to the insurance adjuster for my auto insurance. What a fun conversation that was. I had full coverage on my car, and thank God I did, or I would have been completely screwed. They wouldn't really give me any numbers until my car had been recovered, assuming it was even recoverable. For all I knew, it was on its way to New Mexico or something. But they had some sort of waiting period and since the car hadn't even been gone for twenty-four hours yet, they weren't willing to write it off as a loss. Fuckers.

The only bright side to that I was able to find was that I couldn't drive for the next couple of days anyway. Anywhere I wanted to go, I would be relying on Eric to get me there. I guess that worked out since he was going to have some clean up work to do. If nothing else, there was my blood to wash off the wall and floor at his shop.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up what we needed for the next couple of days. If I couldn't work, at least I could entertain myself by playing housewife. That meant I'd be cooking meals and cleaning the house, regardless of what Eric thought. I wasn't an invalid and I had no intention of milking my injury. Besides, cooking dinner wasn't like training for a marathon. If I got tired, I'd sit down, no big deal.

By the time we got home it was after dinnertime. Eric called in a pizza order while I unpacked upstairs. He'd cleared some space in his dresser for me and told me I was welcome to use any of the other closets upstairs if I needed more space for my stuff. He was being eerily quiet and it was starting to get to me.

"Is this how you're going to be the entire time I'm here?" I asked Eric when he sat on the bed to watch me unpack.

"What do you mean?"

"All sullen and crabby. Look, I'm not really in the mood to dance a jig or anything, but all this negativity that's pouring off of you is really starting to suck up what little energy I have left," I explained to him as I hauled out my stack of clean panties.

"I'm sorry. I'll give you some space," Eric got up off the bed.

"Hey!" I shouted after him and he stopped. "Don't shut me out. Whatever is going on in your head, you can talk to me about it."

He slumped against the door and said, "I feel responsible for what happened to you. I know it's not my fault and I know you don't blame me for it but that doesn't really matter. In the end it was because I wasn't there that you got hurt. I was careless and I shouldn't have been. I feel like I should be doing something to make this right and I have no idea what that thing is."

It dawned on me then that Eric and I were the sorts who weren't comfortable with not being in control. We'd kept walls around ourselves because it meant we could keep the chaos away. I'd been going after guys I knew on some deeper level I could never really have. He went after girls he'd known he didn't really want. Our combined history made it look like there was no way things between us would ever last, but I happened to think it was the mistakes in our past that made us a better match. We understood each other in ways that other people might not because even though we handled it differently, we started out in the same place.

"Come here," I said, figuring a snuggle session might help get his head on straight. Eric turned and I waved him toward me. "Come on, get in bed with me."

I pushed the suitcase onto the floor and climbed up on the bed. I stretched out on my side, careful not to put too much pressure on my stitches. Eric lay down next to me and gathered me up in his arms. I sighed against his chest and held onto him as tightly as I could. Maybe this wasn't going to fix him but it was the best I could offer just then.

"It's going to be okay, Eric. I'm not going to let this get me down and you shouldn't either. The important thing is that I'm here with you and I'll be fine. Everything that was taken is replaceable." I ran my nails up and down his side.

"Will you tell me what happened?" He asked me quietly.

He'd heard the story I'd even the cops but that was all facts, no emotions. Eric wanted to know everything and I couldn't blame him. If I were in his shoes, I would want to know, too. I took a deep breath and started talking.

* * *

><p><strong>So how do you like that? An Eric and Sookie who communicate like normal people. I didn't think it could be done, I really didn't. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	15. So He Won't Break

Chapter 15: So He Won't Break

"_Initiative is doing the right thing without being told." –Victor Hugo_

**EPOV**

After hearing the full details of what Sookie went through during the robbery, I decided I really had to stop feeling for myself and come up with a plan to make things easier on _her_. The best way to do that was to get my own shit together and that meant dealing with the shop. I also decided I was going to call around to a few friends and see if anyone had tried to pawn Sookie's Gran's ring. If I could get that back for her, I had a feeling it would go a long way to repairing the damage that had been done. I knew how much that ring meant to her.

We ate dinner in bed and fell asleep watching a movie on TV. The next morning she was up before me and making breakfast when I came downstairs. She had already contacted a locksmith and had an appointment set to meet him out at her house later that afternoon. She had also spoken with my mother, so that was taken care of as well.

"Your mom is adorable," Sookie smiled and handed me a glass of orange juice.

"She was worried about you," I pushed myself up onto the counter while Sookie pulled more ingredients from the fridge.

"I invited your parents over for dinner on Sunday. I hope you don't mind," Sookie bit her bottom lip.

"No, not at all. It's been a while since they've been here." I took a drink of my juice.

"Good because I wouldn't have called them back to rescind in the invitation," Sookie said as she started to crack eggs into a bowl.

"How's your head feeling?" I pulled a whisk from one of the drawers and handed it to her.

"Still a little sore but otherwise, I feel fine," she shrugged it off like the warrior I'd decided she was. "Are you sure you're okay with taking me out to Bon Temps? I can ask Jason to meet the locksmith for me if you're not up to it."

"It's fine. Chow is taking care of most of the cleaning, surprisingly enough. I'll probably get back in there later on tonight or maybe sometime tomorrow," I shrugged and when Sookie gave me a disapproving look I reassured her I would do it.

We were just sitting down to breakfast when my cell phone rang over on the counter. Sookie jumped up to get it, but I wouldn't let her. I didn't recognize the number but picked it up anyway and I was glad I did, since it was Detective Sanders calling to let me know that they had picked up Felipe and Victor.

"We got them this morning. We were able to recover Sookie's wallet and cell phone, along with her keys. The credit cards and any cash she was carrying are gone and so is her driver's license. The house is being tossed at the moment to see if we can find the missing jewelry but it might have been sold already," Detective Sanders didn't sound too hopeful about finding the stuff but I knew people who might be able to point me in the right direction.

I handed the phone over to Sookie so she could speak with the detectives. Her car hadn't been located yet but officers were keeping an eye out for it. She was going to need to stop by the police station to see if she could identify the guys in person, even though she'd already picked them out of a bunch of pictures. She also had to sign her formal statement and from then on, her case would be handled by one of the assistant district attorneys.

After breakfast I got in the shower, at Sookie's insistence, while she cleaned up the kitchen. I figured out that she was a lot like me in that she needed to find a way to keep herself busy when she felt like things were spinning out of control. I'd gotten lost for a little while there, thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong instead of how to fix the clusterfuck that had come into our life. A quick check of my email after my shower had me smiling.

I had received confirmation that my tickets for the Black Keys concert had been mailed out to me. I hadn't had the chance to mention it to Sookie yet but with everything that had just happened, a few days in Dallas without all of this other bullshit to weigh us down sounded perfect. I was still sitting on my bed, grinning like a fool when she came into the room to get dressed.

"I can't wait to wash my hair," she groaned and then coiled it into a bun. "It just looks so disgusting and it feels even worse. What are you smiling about?"

I closed my laptop and asked, "Have you ever been to Dallas?"

She thought for a moment before answering me. "Uh, not since college. Why?"

"Because the Black Keys are playing there in a couple of weeks and I bought us tickets. I thought maybe we could spend a long weekend there," I suggested and the smile on her face told me she was in.

"I would love to! Their music has really grown on me." Sookie pulled a pair of clean panties from the drawer she'd stashed them in.

"I thought it was just me," I mock pouted and she climbed up onto the bed next to me.

"Yes, you've grown on me too," she kissed my cheek. "When did you buy the tickets?"

I hesitated for a moment but figured I had nothing to lose by telling her the truth. "About twenty minutes after I got home from our first date. You seemed to like the music then and I thought even if things didn't work out between us, I would still go. But I bought them hoping you would be going with me."

"You really wanted me to still be around after just one date?" Sookie looked surprised.

"Didn't you?"

"Well yeah but I'm not the commitment phobe," she reminded me.

"Ahem, that's _reformed_ commitment phobe, thank you very much."

"Yes, I'm sorry, you're reformed. It seems I've cured you."

"Sometimes I think you bewitched me," I smirked at her and she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe I did. Did I ever tell you I'm a voodoo priestess in my spare time?" She joked and then squirmed when I tickled her side.

**o.O.o.O.o**

Sookie felt better once the locks were changed at her place and she wasn't the only one. She was considering installing an alarm as well. I hated that her security in her home had been robbed from her as well. Given that she lived out of the way and her nearest neighbor lived far enough away that if she screamed for help, he wouldn't hear her, I was concerned.

I started thinking about the possibility of us living together. It was fast, I knew that much, but it would eliminate a lot of the security issues. On the other hand, it would mean she would have to do a lot of driving back and forth to her job. I decided to shelve the conversation for the time being and see how things went once she was back in her own house. I could spend more time at her place. I honestly didn't care as long as she felt safe. Whether that was with me in Shreveport or me traveling to Bon Temps to be with her, it didn't matter.

We stopped at the bar she worked at while she was in college, up until she started her nursing rotations and had to quit. Her former boss, a guy named Sam, was a pretty nice guy. He was obviously concerned about Sookie and it was through Arlene, one of the waitresses, that I learned Sam had a pretty legendary crush on Sookie. When I asked Sookie about it after we left she just laughed it off.

"Oh please! That was years ago and it was always a one sided deal," Sookie shook her head.

"Well, I can't really fault him for being crazy about you," I kissed the back of her hand.

"Stop it! That was a long time ago! Sam has a girlfriend now, I'll have you know, and Janna is a really nice girl. They're good for each other," Sookie insisted. "Besides, even if Sam didn't have a girlfriend, I never saw him that way, not to mention, I have you."

"Poor bastard," I muttered under my breath.

I _almost_ felt sorry for him.

True to my word from earlier that day, I dropped Sookie off at the house so she could plan out the menu for dinner with my parents while I went over to the shop to take a look at the damage. The place was locked up tight when I got there. We wouldn't be open for business until at least Monday. The broken glass had been swept up and the blood that had been on the floor and the wall was gone.

I stood at the spot where I had found Sookie laying unconscious for quite a while, those moments replaying themselves over and over again in my mind. It occurred to me that I could easily call up the video of the robbery since it was saved to our hard drive. I could see it all for myself and Sookie wouldn't need to know that I'd watched it. I realized, however, that I didn't really want to see it. I knew enough without watching the silent play by play of what she'd been through.

I knew if I watched the footage and saw the terror on her face, or those tears running down her cheeks, it would cripple me with rage and it would make me do stupid things. I would want to take revenge against those little shits that had hurt her and that wouldn't be doing anyone any favors. I took a few deep breaths and forced myself to move away from the counter. I surveilled the things that still needed to be done to get the shop back in business and there wasn't really a whole lot left. Did Chow actually give a shit about the store?

Mostly I suspected that Chow just wanted the weekend off. Whatever. I still needed to finish inventory but I wasn't in the mood for that. My head just wasn't in the right place. I went back to the office and looked at the orders Chow had placed for a replacement case. Thank God our insurance was going to cover the cost of that, or we'd be out another couple hundred dollars.

I went through the old rolodex I kept on my desk in there to see if I could find the phone number I had for a guy named Stan, who ran a pawn shop on the other side of town. If Sookie's jewelry wasn't in the house where the boys were found, odds were it had been pawned. Unless, God forbid, one of them had a girlfriend. I shuddered at the thought of any of those pieces being on another woman's body. The ring was going to be tainted enough already.

"6th Street Pawn," Stan answered in his gruff voice.

It was a voice you wouldn't expect on such a bookish little guy like Stan. I always expected he would be bigger, more like my size. Instead he was about a foot shorter than me and seemed to wear nothing but sweatervests and tweed pants. A guy like that should have had a voice like Kermit the frog, or maybe a stuffy, British accent.

"Hey Stan, it's Eric," I sat back in my chair.

"Long time. Heard about your store. That was some bullshit." Stan said angrily. "How's the girl?"

"Her name is Sookie. She's fine. She was released from the hospital yesterday. She's my girlfriend, actually," I informed Stan.

"Oh shit," he muttered. "I'm sure I've got a nice 9 mil if you're interested in a little Old West justice."

I laughed and said, "Nah, that's alright. The punks who did it got picked up earlier today. I'm actually calling because they stole a ring Sookie was wearing. It's a double banded ring encrusted with blue diamonds with a square cut diamond in the main setting. I was wondering if someone might have brought that in."

"No, I haven't seen anything like that but I can put the word out that you're looking for it. I'm surprised the cops haven't been in to see if I've got it." Stan explained to me.

"Well, anything you can do, I would appreciate. That ring belonged to Sookie's grandmother. It holds a lot of sentimental value for her that the insurance company can't compensate for."

"Understood. I'll keep my ear to the ground on this for you and I'll let you know if I find anything," Stan told me.

"Great. Thank you."

We made a few more minutes of small talk before Stan had to go take care of a customer. Feeling like I'd done all I could for the night, I closed up the store and headed home again. I found Sookie sitting on the bed, wrapped in a towel and combing out her wet hair.

"I couldn't wait anymore," she said even though she didn't have to explain herself to me. "How's the store doing?"

"It's good. I called a friend of mine who owns a pawn shop to see if someone had brought the ring in," I said as I kicked off my shoes.

"And?" Her face lit up with hope.

"He hasn't seen it yet but he's going to do some checking around with some people who might know something. Do you have a picture of the ring somewhere that I could email him?" It couldn't hurt to send the picture. The ring was fairly unique in its design so I doubted there were two of them floating around in the Shreveport area.

"If I do it would be back at my house," Sookie frowned. "I would send Jason over there to take a look but his key won't work anymore."

"Don't worry about it," I leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "We'll figure something out."

She sighed and finished combing out her hair. When she was done, she stood up and dropped her towel rather unceremoniously. It amazed me that I hadn't really thought about sex in the last forty-eight hours. I'd been too concerned with making sure she was okay and getting things settled to think about anything else. Seeing her standing there naked, her bottom lip lodged between her nibbling teeth, I knew she was thinking the same thing I was.

Sookie climbed back up onto the bed and then on top of me. "Thank you for taking care of me. I really don't know how I would have gotten through the last two days without you," she leaned down and kissed me.

I didn't comment on the fact that she wouldn't have had to get through the last few days if it wasn't for me. I knew she would just shush me and tell me to quit blaming myself. The fact that she held no ill will toward me for what happened to her when I was at least a little responsible for it only made me love her more. For me, it would be one of the biggest mistakes of my life and something I would always regret, but deep down I knew that kicking myself was a waste of time. What's done was done and there was no changing it.

I was careful about putting my hands in her hair so I didn't accidentally tug too hard and agitate her stitches. With that in mind, my hands ended up on her breasts instead and the fact that she didn't pull away was all the green light I needed. She took her time undressing me one piece of clothing at a time. After getting my pants off she crawled between my legs and the way she was looking at me left little doubt as to what she was about to do.

"Turn around," I told her and she arched an eyebrow at me. "I give as good as I get, or haven't you figured that out yet?"

"Oh I noticed," Sookie smiled and then did as I asked.

The second her taste hit my tongue, it lit something up in me. That feeling of gratefulness for having been given a second chance to show Sookie just how much I cared about her hit me again. It dawned on me then that I didn't just want her, I needed her. I'd never felt that way about someone before. I was used to the lust and all that kind of thing but the need I now felt wasn't just sexual.

_That's because you love her, Northman_, a little voice in my head told me. Love just seemed to simple a word, considering how complex an emotion it was. It baffled me how quickly it could sneak up on a person. One minute, I'm fine as I am and the next, I feel like I'm going crazy when she's not around. And the fact that I wasn't running for the hills spoke volumes about how right she was for me. At least I had to assume that was the reason I wasn't running.

The sensation of her moaning around my cock while I was fucking her with my tongue was nothing short of amazing. Damn, she tasted good. How could I have forgotten that? All of a sudden she sat up and started to lean to the side. I grabbed onto her hips to keep her from falling off the bed and I heard the nightstand open. I knew what she was going for and I couldn't help growling against her skin.

"Fuck that feels good," she moaned and shivered a little.

I let myself get lost in her while she put the condom on me. The subtle grind of her hips let me know how close she was to coming and I held her a little tighter while my lips fastened around her clit. Her legs trembled on either side of my head and her fingernails dug into my thighs.

"Oh God don't stop," she moaned, her hips moving faster and faster against my flicking tongue. "Oh fuck, I want you inside me."

That was definitely music to my ears but being the possessed man I was, I couldn't stop then. She screamed when she came and I had a hard time letting up on her. I wanted everything she had to offer and a little more. I was greedy, what can I say? She fell to the side, landing flat on her stomach. Well if that wasn't an invitation…

I shifted myself so I was on top of her and pulled her hair away from her ear. She was still breathing hard and moaning quietly as she shivered with aftershocks. I kissed her shoulders and moved closer to her ear. "You taste so fucking good, lover. Do you have any idea how hard I want to fuck you right now?"

She whimpered her response and rubbed her ass against me. I got up on my knees and lifted her hips up off the bed. She braced herself on her elbows and looked over her shoulder at me. I teasingly rubbed my cock against her clit and smirked when she started to rock back and forth on her knees.

"Eric, please," she moaned after a minute or two of torture for the both of us.

By then I was more than ready and started to ease inside her slowly. Fuck, she was so hot and tight. Her head sank down to the mattress and she groaned as I entered her. I fucking loved that sound. I moved slowly at first, giving her time to adjust, before picking up the pace. My hands moved up her sides to palm her breasts while my hips starting pounding against her.

The sound of her moans and flesh slapping against flesh filled the room. Her hair flew as her head whipped from side to side. She dropped onto the mattress entirely and I fell right along with her, covering her like a human blanket. With her legs closed like they were she felt impossibly tighter around me and the delicate fluttering of her muscles felt fucking awesome.

But I wanted to see her face when she came. I wanted to be able to kiss her and tell her I loved her while I looked into those beautiful eyes of hers. I pulled out and turned her over. Her legs fell open and I settled myself between them, pausing to kiss her for a minute (or five) before sliding inside her again. Our eyes locked and her hips rose to meet each of my thrusts.

The connected I felt to her in those moments was beyond intense and unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Her damp hair was fanned out in golden waves like a halo around her head. I couldn't stop kissing her. Her orgasm hit her hard and seemed to come from out of nowhere and it pulled me over the edge with her. Shit, she was squeezing me so tight, milking me over and over.

I dropped my head into the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent and kissing her slightly sweaty skin. Damn, she tasted good everywhere. When I pushed myself up I noticed that she was crying quietly and I worried that maybe I'd gotten a little too rough with her in the end.

"Did I hurt you?" I was starting to move off of her but she pulled me back.

"Stay," she whimpered, her lower lip trembling. "Stay with me for a little while."

I had no idea why she was crying but the fact that I hadn't hurt her didn't relieve me as much as I thought it would. I tried to gather her closer to me but I didn't want to crush her. She wrapped her arms around me, squeezing herself against my ribs. Eventually I had to peel myself away from her long enough to get rid of the condom before it turned into a great big mess and a total waste of time.

"Come back," she held her arms out to me after I got rid of the condom.

I resumed my position on top of her, pinning her against the bed. "What's wrong, lover?"

"I could have lost you." Was all she said and I completely understood how she felt. "I love you, Eric. Like, scary, deep in my soul love you. Sometimes it feels like I always knew you."

Shit, if she kept that up, I was going to start crying too. I swallowed the ball of emotion in my throat, refusing to be the totally whipped boyfriend I was, and settled for smoothing her hair back from her face instead. I peppered her face with little kisses; her forehead, nose, eyebrows, cheeks, chin, jaw, temples, eyelids and then the corners of her mouth, I left no part of that beautiful face unkissed.

"We're here now. That's all that matters," I whispered to her and she nodded before pulling me into the hungriest kiss I'd ever gotten.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the delay! I've had this puppy in my bank but I've been busy this week. It's a very long story but my sister got married yesterday and we're throwing her shower tomorrow so there's been tons of prep work to do this week, not to mention I am balls deep in research for another project. So yeah... it's been a crazy week for yours truly. Hopefully the lemons made up for it a little bit. Thanks for reading!<strong>


End file.
